Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 374 If This Plan Works
Pingcheng.

Yao Xiong walked on the road with a swagger, looking at the scenery on both sides of the official road, with a smug smile on his face.

People come and go on the official road.

The closer you get to Pingcheng, the more you can feel the trance-like scene.

This is not prosperity, the people along the road are still thin and small.

The children were wearing tattered, patched clothes. Those clothes were not really clothes at all. They were just some rags sewn together, making them colorful and ill-fitting.

The vendors basically had no horses or carts, so they could only rely on their own shoulders, dragging heavy goods and shouting their wares along the way.

The ground is still a dirt road, the houses in the distance are also made of loess, the fences are short and small, everything seems to be filtered through an ochre color, poor, broken and small.

But everything became human again.

After all, a few years ago, the filter here was still gloomy. It was not just poor, broken and small, but also weird and scary.

At that time, there was no one on the road. Everyone lived in fear and tried to avoid daybreak. They went to the fields before daybreak and hid in the fields when they met people. They would go back after dark.

But now, this still poor place has become like the human world.

Demons no longer run rampant and evil spirits no longer appear.

Yao Xiong led his personal soldiers, escorting prisoners and supplies all the way forward. The people they met along the way finally no longer ran away. Although they were still afraid and would hide, at least they would no longer escape.

Some people looked at this army that came from afar with curiosity.

Some of the braver ones even came over and asked the soldiers if they wanted to buy some fruits from their own farms.

When they arrived at the gate of Pingcheng, the people did not dare to get closer. There were soldiers on martial law, and many officials accompanied Liu Taozi to welcome Yao Xiong's triumphant return.

Yao Xiong saw his brother from a distance.

He jumped off his horse excitedly and rushed forward quickly.

"His Majesty!!"

Yao Xiong bowed his head.

Liu Taozi helped him up and asked, "Why is your beard still like this? Are you so lazy to take care of it?"

Yao Xiong stroked his beard and said with a smile, "I'll repair it when it warms up again."

There was no need for too much small talk between the two of them. Yao Xiong proudly took his brother's hand and showed him his gains.

"I captured more than 700 war horses this time!"

"We also captured a provincial governor, two county magistrates, four generals, and the rest of the people, a total of 1,300 people."

"good."

The officials were also very supportive and praised Yao Xiong's bravery.

Yao Xiong became even more excited.

After everyone returned to the palace, Liu Taozi held a celebratory banquet after reading out the rewards for Yao Xiong and his subordinates. Unfortunately, there was still no alcohol.

The officials congratulated one after another, and Yao Xiong responded one by one.

After a long time, the banquet finally ended and the officials left one by one, but Yao Xiong stayed here, along with Cui Gang, Lu Qubing, Chu Jiande and a few others.

After watching everyone leave, Yao Xiong came to Liu Taozi with a smile.

Yao Xiong knew that Liu Taozi hated banquets the most, but he was able to sit here today and not leave halfway. Of course, this was all because of him. Yao Xiong knew everything.

"Brother, my idea is feasible."

"After the autumn harvest this year, we can find a way to continue besieging Wei Xiaokuan, making him exhausted, and then tear through his defenses and aim the arrows directly at Chang'an. The Zhou people will be terrified and may even have to move the capital!"

Yao Xiong's eyes were full of light. "Once Wei Xiaokuan is defeated and the Zhou people move their capital, we will be able to take Guanzhong as well. By then, we will be able to attack from both sides, and Heluo and other places will have difficulty holding on."

"Then you underestimate Wei Xiaokuan."

Liu Taozi said calmly, "If Wei Xiaokuan could be defeated so easily, then Gao Wang and others would not have paid such a heavy price."

"He will definitely find his shortcomings and then make adjustments."

Yao Xiong was stunned, "Am I a little too hasty?"

"No problem, none of this matters. The final outcome of the war still depends on the national strength of both sides. Whoever can manage domestic affairs well will have the advantage."

"This time you have proven that the multi-line attack strategy is effective against Wei Xiaokuan."

Looking at Yao Xiong's smug face, Chu Jiande narrowed his eyes and said, "Your Majesty, please stop praising him. If you continue to praise him, this man will be in trouble!"

Cui Gang and Lu Qubing chuckled.

Yao Xiong glanced at Old Man Chu and said, "You are already quite old, but you are still so rude. You haven't improved at all."

"Confucius said: At seventy, one can follow one's heart's desire. At my age, I can say whatever I want. But you, you have been a general for such a long time, but you are still so impetuous and have not made any progress."

Yao Xiong was not angry, but laughed with him, as if he had returned to the original Cheng An.

It’s a pity that it’s difficult to get everyone together at the moment.

After the ministers left, these people set up a small banquet and sat together chatting for a long time. It was not until it began to darken that they said goodbye and left one by one.

Yao Xiong and Chu Jiande were walking on the road. Old Chu was indeed old and his legs and feet were not very convenient. After walking a few steps, he began to pant.

Yao Xiong supported him and walked out together.

"Sometimes, I miss the old Cheng An."

Yao Xiong said in a low voice.

Chu Jiande looked at him in disbelief, "Missing? Missing the time when you were in danger every day and demons were rampant? Did Wei Xiaokuan make you stupid?"

“I don’t miss that kind of environment, I just…”

Yao Xiong hesitated for a moment, then continued, "I miss the time when we were all together."

Chu Jiande stroked his long beard and said, "We can't always get together to chop off people's heads. There will always be a time to separate."

"It took many years for my lord to get everything back to normal. Don't miss it. Cherish the present moment."

“I don’t have many years left to live.”

Chu Jiande smiled and said, "But I don't have anything to miss. I just want to do more things while I'm still alive."

Yao Xiong subconsciously retorted: "What can you do now that you have Xu Zhicai?"

Old Man Chu glared at him and said, "What nonsense!"

"Xu Zhicai's medical skills are indeed superb, but don't I still have to take care of the affairs of this medical clinic and the hospital?"

"Qi State had been talking about this for decades, but many famous officials failed to do it. I accomplished it!"

"Look, medical clinics and asylums are now common in the local area. Isn't this all my credit? I have found so many fellow disciples."

Yao Xiong retorted again, "It's not that they can't do it, it's that they simply don't want to do it, otherwise it wouldn't be your turn as an old man."

"Hey, at least I know some medical skills. What about you? If you hadn't followed the lord in the beginning, would you still be able to rule this place? Your career as a leader would be over!"

The two bickered all the way until Yao Xiong sent Old Man Chu to his own carriage.

Chu Jiande has been in charge of medical matters over the years. In the past, Qi State had a standard official medical system, with medical clinics for the upper class and medical hospitals for the lower class. Of course, like other policies of Qi State, it was just an empty shell without any real content.

Through some efforts, Chu Jiande gradually made this empty shell become real. He found many fellow disciples and used everything he had to guarantee Liu Taozi.

I guarantee that the new government will not kill doctors because they cannot cure diseases, because they are in a bad mood, or because they dislike doctors.
Thanks to Chu Jiande's efforts, more and more doctors came to Hebei.

With the development of the times, the situation of "no distinction between medicine and witchcraft" in the Qin and Han Dynasties was gradually improved, and the origins of doctors began to gradually improve. Children of wealthy families began to take over. Many famous doctors came from wealthy families. If they were not from wealthy families, they could not work in this industry. They specialized in serving the nobles, and the disciples they recruited were basically people with some family background and status. However, the treatment depended entirely on the ruler.

In a country like the Pseudo-Qi Dynasty, especially those doctors who served the emperor and nobles, the living environment was the most dangerous.

Not everyone can cure a madman like Xu Zhicai. Even if someone can, the madman himself may not appreciate it.

After the State of Qi implemented the relevant policies, the endless problems of persecuting doctors resulted in no one to man the medical clinics, and they eventually became empty offices that defrauded the government of its salaries.

Chu Jiande had no talent for governing. The only thing he did was to find people and provide guarantees.

He simply filled up these empty government offices and did not change anything else. Everything still followed the previous policies of Qi.

But once this empty framework is filled out and security is guaranteed, the effect it can have will become apparent.

Emperor Wenxiang of Qi, Gao Cheng, was an extremely powerful man. Many of the policies he formulated with his ministers went beyond the limits of the times and were adopted by the empire later. If he could live longer and his fairly normal descendants could inherit his cause, perhaps everything would be different. But now, those policies have become the capital for Chu Jiande to brag about his own achievements.

Before Chu Jiande left, he suddenly remembered something, "By the way, I heard that General Bao is seriously ill and is recuperating in the mansion. You can go and see him earlier."

Violent government.

The mansion was quiet, with few guards and servants.

Inside the room, Bao Xian was sitting on the bed. The walls were covered with various maps with many traces of scribbling on them.

He had a pen in his hand and a piece of paper beside him, and he was writing something.

As he was busy, he heard a noise coming from the yard and vaguely heard someone shouting angrily.

Bao Xian smiled, put away his pen, raised his head, and shouted loudly to the outside of the door: "Where is Yao Xiong?! Why don't you come in and greet me!!"

It suddenly became quiet outside.

A moment later, the door was pushed open and Yao Xiong walked in with a look of astonishment on his face.

Bao Xian was stunned when he saw his full beard, his face full of disgust, "Others say you are a Qihu, do you really think you are a Qihu?"

Yao Xiong hurriedly bowed his head and said, "I heard that the old general was seriously ill, so I came here specially to pay my respects to him."

"The people at the door said you were sick and couldn't see guests, and they wanted to kick me out."

"How did the general know I was outside?"

Bao Xian said in a deep voice, "The only one who dares to act so presumptuously in my house is you or Zu Ting. Since Zu Ting is not in the city, then of course it must be you."

Yao Xiong smiled foolishly and hurried forward, "They said the old general was in poor health and was seriously ill, but I heard your loud voice, there is no sign of serious illness at all."

"Xu Zhicai examined me and prescribed some medicine. The effect is quite good."

Yao Xiong just sat next to him and looked around unscrupulously.

His eyes lingered on the maps.

"What are the results of the battle?"

"Big victory!"

"I crossed the river from Danliu's front camp, destroyed their camp, and then headed north."

Yao Xiong described his achievements in detail, his words full of pride.

“Rough.”

"Too rough."

"That is to say, Wei Xiaokuan's mind is not on you, otherwise, you would be left on the other side by him and be annihilated by him."

Bao Xian still has a very low opinion of Yao Xiong.

Yao Xiong was used to it. Old Man Bao had always been like this. If he had been there, he would have definitely made a scene. However, as he grew older, Yao Xiong gradually understood many things. The military strategies that Old Man Bao had given him in the past were not something that anyone could give. They were family heirlooms and were very precious.
He said with a smile: "If Wei Xiaokuan dares to attack me with a large army, his rear will be in trouble."

"He didn't dare to use those young generals to do things because he had too many concerns."

Bao Xian shook his head. "Not entirely. The main reason is that there are not many talented people under your command. After his failure this time, he will definitely realize his shortcomings and be prepared. The next time, you will not only face Wei Xiaokuan."

Bao Xian cleared his throat and said, "Help me up!"

Yao Xiong hurried forward, helped the old man up, and showed his strength, letting Yao Xiong help himself to the wall.

Bao Xian just looked at the maps in front of him.

Yao Xiong had just figured it out. These were maps of Yan, Xia, Sui, Yin, Dan and other states as well as their surrounding areas.

These maps are quite rough; after all, they are the enemy's sphere of influence and only show terrain and cities.

But Baoxian added a lot of annotations to these, making these originally simple maps instantly become complicated.

"Yao Xiong, how do you feel after coming back this time?"

"I found that most of Wei Xiaokuan's soldiers were not afraid of death"

"I'm not asking you about the battlefield. I'm asking you about what you saw in Pingcheng, Shuozhou, and Hengzhou after you came back."

Yao Xiong hesitated for a long time, then slowly said, "It feels like there are more people."

He looked extremely thin, but there was a gleam in his eyes and he looked extremely excited.

"Population, food, iron ore, war horses"

"This winter, Han and Zhou will definitely have a fierce battle!!"

Yao Xiong was even more confused.

“How come you see?”

"The domestic development is too rapid. After the autumn harvest this year, the number of troops that can be mobilized in the country will be at least 50,000 to 60,000."

"This is enough to launch an attack on the Zhou people."

"Although I am in the palace, I often ask people about the situation of the Pseudo-Zhou."

"I heard that the emperor of the Pseudo-Zhou State has implemented many policies and made drastic reforms. We only have half of Qi State, and in terms of overall national strength, I'm afraid we are not as strong as the Pseudo-Zhou State. If we let the emperor complete what he wants to do, won't we have to face the enemy on many fronts?"

"Therefore, I predict that after this autumn, Your Majesty will definitely lead the army personally to attack the Pseudo-Zhou and defeat Wei Xiaokuan, and may even try to attack Chang'an."

"what?"

"Destroy the country?"

Yao Xiong was stunned.

"But I heard from my brother that the soldiers in the country have not yet finished their training, and they will not easily go to war for at least three years."

He showed his confidence, "You will know when the time comes."

"If your majesty doesn't say so, how can the pseudo-Zhou believe it?"

"Your Majesty has always used troops swiftly and unexpectedly."

Yao Xiong then nodded slowly, "It seems so."

Bao Xian suddenly felt a little depressed again, "I'm afraid I won't be able to fight in this year's war."

"But you can go."

"Look here, Wei Xiaokuan's defense line is basically along the outermost perimeter. After your attack, he will strengthen the defense force on the shore."

Bao Xian pointed at the two marks he had drawn.

"If the lord were to send troops to attack, he would probably use a multi-front attack, launching attacks simultaneously from multiple checkpoints along these two lines of defense."

"But in my opinion, the key to victory is not how to destroy Wei Xiaokuan. Wei Xiaokuan has completely wrapped himself up, trying to turn himself into a large Yubi City. However, those areas that are not within his sphere of influence are different, such as here."

Bao Xian knocked on a spot, "Dragon Gate."

"If there is a strong army, it can cross the river from the Heluo direction to take Longmen, attack from Longmen to Yizhou, and then go south to attack Chang'an."

Bao Xian brought Yao Xiong to the other side of the wall. The map here was filled with attack routes. The final destination of all the attack routes was Chang'an.

Bao Xian smiled and said, "The key to victory is not Wei Xiaokuan, but Chang'an."

"In the past, because of Yubi City, the location of Longmen was not important. But now, Yubi City is no longer in Wei Xiaokuan, and there are no strong troops around Longmen."

Yao Xiong slowly looked at the maps in front of her, with their densely packed routes. Bao Xian then asked her to open several wooden boxes around them. There were many documents inside, all of which recorded Bao Xian's strategic ideas.

Bao Xian held onto Yao Xiong's hand tightly, "Xiong, I have never made any great achievements in my life. I have won many times, but none of them can be passed down to future generations. Now the world is facing the final decisive battle, but I am too old to ride a horse to fight. This is the last thing I want to accomplish. When I first saw you, I thought of myself. I joined King Gao's army later. I am not from the Six Garrisons, nor am I a Xianbei, so I don't get along very well with them."

"Except for King Gao, everyone else looked down on me, thinking that I, a Han Chinese from outside, could not become a general commanding an army."

"I know that many generals also look down on you, thinking that you, a Qihu from a commoner background, cannot become a general commanding a large army."

“The more others look down on you, the stronger you must be. You must prove them wrong through your achievements and deeds!”

"Xiong, I hope you can take these maps and books back with you, study them carefully, train your army well, and prepare for war."

"I don't ask you to do things exactly according to my strategy, but if things develop as I said, you can use it as a reference and achieve great things."

"Don't forget to tell your subordinates that this is the plan of the Cavalry General to show off his power!"

(End of this chapter)