Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 381: A Man in the North and a Man in the South
On the official road, the knights held spears and stared fiercely at the women and children walking in the middle.

The long team slowly moved towards Jinyong City.

Most of them were women and children. Frightened women were holding their children and stumbling forward. There were also half-grown children supporting elderly people.

Even shackles were put on everyone's feet, regardless of age.

The team was very long, advancing towards the city from various official roads outside Jinyong City, with horse-drawn carriages running in it. If anyone fell behind or showed any intention of resisting, they would be killed immediately.

Crying, blood and tears along the way.

The crying along the way never stopped.

It's really a doomsday scene.

Yang Su stood on the city wall, looking at the troops coming into the city from all directions, with a faint smile in his eyes.

Two minor officials stood beside him. Both of them were from Zhou. But even though they were from Zhou, they felt a little bit of pity when they saw such a tragic scene.

Traveling is already a life-threatening matter, let alone for the elderly, the weak, women and children, it is basically a matter of pushing them to death.

Yang Su was not moved at all.

He read many books, and was particularly fond of the books of Legalism. He advocated severe punishment and admired the Qin State's way of governing.

In his view, collective responsibility, corvee labor, heavy taxes, comprehensive blockade of the people, and repressive and cruel criminal law methods were all extremely necessary.

Of course, Yang Su was not the kind of madman who was addicted to killing. He was different from Gao Chuo. He was dismissive of the people, not because he was cruel by nature, but because he felt that the people needed a knife hanging over their heads at all times in order to be better governed. Everything had to be strict and severe. To control the people, they had to be made to feel afraid and always be kept in a balance between life and death, so that they had no energy to think about or do anything else.
The clerk asked in a low voice: "Mr. Yang, is this method really useful?"

"Whether it's useful or not, what does it have to do with us?"

"Have you forgotten your identities?"

Yang Su asked back.

The two clerks dared not say a word and lowered their heads.

Yang Su sneered, "Dugu Yongye, just a fool."

"Don't forget, our purpose in coming to Henan is not to help Dugu Yongye govern the country, nor to help him fight Liu Taozi. How can a fool like him want to compete with Liu Taozi?"

Yang Su's words were full of disdain.

He continued: “We are here to weaken our enemies.”

"The more they die, the better. Craftsmen and doctors, it would be best if Henan became a barren land. Then, when Liu Taozi occupies Henan, not only will he not be able to develop, but he will have to rely on Hebei to support Henan, which will cost a lot and bring no benefit at all."

The two looked at each other and found that it was true.

Yang Su listened to the crying in the distance and suddenly laughed, "Liu Taozi has always regarded himself as loving the people, which is ridiculous."

"This time we are imposing forced labor and massacring villages and cities in Henan. Will Liu Taozi continue to invade the Great Zhou? Or will he find a way to save the people he loves?"

"Liu Taozi is good at fighting. Few people dare to say they can beat him. But in governing the country, he is nothing special. In military affairs, he imitates the Great Zhou, in the promotion of officials, he imitates the Pseudo-Chen, and in governing the country, he imitates the Pseudo-Qi. Zu Ting is strong enough, and he is advised to implement strict laws and use cruel means to control the people in the country. That's why he has the current scale."

"You should continue to win over people, but don't try to win over those with military power. These people are living well with Dugu Yongye and won't come to us. Try to win over the children of the big families whose interests have been damaged by Dugu Yongye, and contact the Han people. We still have a lot of things to do in the future."

The two men hurriedly said yes.

One of them suddenly asked, "What should we do with Duan Shao?"

"Duan Shao cannot be killed."

"If Duan Shao dies, Dugu Yongye and his good-for-nothings won't be able to stop Liu Taozi at all."

"I have my own ideas. No one is allowed to act rashly without my order!"

"only!!"

After the two men agreed, they turned and left.

Yang Su stood on the city wall again and looked out for a long time.

He originally followed Yuwen Hu. After Yuwen Hu died, Yuwen Yong did not like him and had no intention of using him.

Previously, Duan Shao had contacted the Zhou people, and the court sent troops near the Fen River to follow Li Mu to support Duan Shao. Yang Su's father, Yang Fu, served as the governor of Fenzhou. He followed Li Mu into the enemy's territory. Li Mu went to the front line to support, and Yang Fu stayed behind.

As a result, Yang Fu was defeated by Duan Shao in Anyang and was killed by Duan Shao because he was unwilling to surrender.

However, Emperor Yuwen Yong did not posthumously confer a title on Yang Fu, probably because he felt that the defeat was a disgrace. Yang Su was dissatisfied and wrote a petition to the emperor, hoping to be posthumously conferred a title. Emperor Yuwen Yong ignored him. He wrote three petitions in a row, and Emperor Yuwen Yong was furious. He wanted to arrest and execute Yang Su, but Yang Su angrily rebuked Emperor Yuwen Yong: You deserve to die for serving an unjust emperor.

Seeing how tough this guy was, Yuwen Yong looked at him with new eyes, pardoned his crimes, posthumously conferred titles on his father, appointed Yang Suyi as one of the three officials, made him the General of Chariots and Cavalry, kept him by his side and began to use him. Later, Yuwen Yong discovered that this kid was great at everything he did, so he valued him even more.

This time, it was Yang Su who requested to come to take care of Dugu Yongye's matter.

Yuwen Yong was still a little reluctant, but Yang Su said to him: If you have a sharp knife but don't use it to kill the enemy, how can you put it in the armory for display?
Yuwen Yong no longer hesitated and asked him to serve as an envoy to Dugu Yongye, and gave him the privilege of full responsibility.

To Yang Su, Duan Shao was the enemy who murdered his father.

But Yang Su had no intention of revenge at all, and he was even able to calmly think about how to use Duan Shao to fight Liu Taozi.

Just when Yang Su frowned and fell into deep thought, several officers ran up quickly. When they saw Yang Su, they were sweating profusely.

"Mr. Gao, what are you doing here? The general has been looking for you for a long time, but can't find you anywhere."

Yang Su looked at them with a smile on his face. Most of the time, his expression did not seem aggressive. His eyes were bright and he had a faint smile. He looked like a well-mannered and cultured scholar.

"I'm here to see how the execution is going. Where is the general? Take me over to see him immediately!"

The officers took him down the city wall, got into the carriage, and quickly rushed towards the general's mansion.

The General's Mansion was newly built in the best location in the city, and more than 40,000 laborers were mobilized. The scale of 40,000 people does not seem large, after all, Gao Yang had employed 100,000 laborers to build temples and Buddha statues, and 200,000 laborers to build palaces. But the problem is that what Dugu Yongye built was a mansion, not a spectacle.

The General's Mansion was built entirely in the manner of a fortress, a city within a city, capable of accommodating a large number of people.

Yang Su sat in the carriage and drove around the mansion for a long time before he arrived at where Dugu Yongye was.

He got off the carriage and walked quickly towards the inner hall under the guidance of several officers.

There was singing and dancing in the palace.

The dancers were shaking their bodies vigorously, with only a few pieces of cloth on their bodies, and most of their bodies were naked. Many wise men under Dugu Yongye were sitting around them, drinking wine, looking at the dancing beauties with lust, and singing loudly with the musicians. The beef was boiling and tumbling in the cauldron, and some people directly scooped it up and cut it with a knife to eat.

Yang Su was very pleased with this.

Yes, that’s how we play it.

Dugu Yongye, who was sitting in the upper seat, was overjoyed to see Yang Su coming and waved to him hurriedly.

Yang Su walked quickly to his side, and Dugu Yongye let him sit next to him.

"Why did you come so late?"

"I went to see the families of the craftsmen who were transported here."

"Oh what's wrong?"

"There is nothing wrong with that. From now on, the craftsmen will not dare to defect again."

Dugu Yongye laughed loudly, stroking his dirty beard and sticking out his increasingly prominent belly. "Things are getting better everywhere, but Duan Shao has been a bit dishonest recently. He has simply lived with Baibaoying these days."

"Mr. Gao, you have to think of a way. How can we let the elite soldiers of Baibao fall into the hands of someone like him?!"

Dugu Yongye's face was flushed and he reeked of alcohol.

"We have to speed up. The people of this world are looking forward to a wise leader."

Yang Su saw undisguised desire in Dugu Yongye's eyes.

Dugu Yongye became more and more impatient. He didn't want to wait any longer, especially when he saw that Liu Taozi, who was also a minister in the past, had been honored as the King of Han. He also wanted to go one step further. The position of general was nothing to him.

He also wants to be the king of heaven! Dugu Yongye held Yang Su's hand and whispered, "In fact, my surname is Liu, and I am a genuine Han Chinese, the Zhongshan Liu family. The genealogy is engraved on the stone tablet. There is text to check. I am definitely not a Han Chinese who pretended to be like Dugu Qihaizhen!"

"In the past few months, people all over the world have been talking about Liu the Golden Sword. This prophecy of the Golden Sword did not come true on Liu Taozi, but on me!!"

"Mr. Gao, if I can ever get a high position, you should be the main contributor!! I will give you half of my wealth!!"

Looking at Dugu Yongye who was almost losing his composure, Yang Su also seemed a little excited.

"Thank you, my lord"

"However, under the current situation, you cannot enter the royal title yet. If you want to enter the Han King title, Duan Shao will be the first to rebel."

"Then kill him!!"

Yang Su looked embarrassed. He stroked his chin and said, "It's not easy to kill him. I told you before that whoever strikes first will be more likely to fail."

Dugu Yongye disagreed. He looked up and said loudly: "In this year, I have recruited tens of thousands of troops. The treasury is full of food and weapons. I have everything I need, including people, food, and iron! The Heluo army has never been so strong. I have nearly 100,000 troops under my command. Do I still need to be afraid of Duan Shao? Even if Liu Taozi comes, I am not afraid!"

Yang Su could feel that the closer he got to the last step, the less rational Dugu Yongye became. He was gradually consumed by desire and became more and more impatient.

But for Yang Su, this was a great thing.

Yang Su hesitated for a moment, "If the general is determined to get rid of Duan Shao, I have a good idea."

"you say!!"

"I have always felt that when two countries are at war, they cannot just improve their own strength, but must also constantly weaken the enemy's strength."

"Liu Taozi is currently in the north, occupying the richest region, and has more and more troops at his disposal. Our progress in recent days is indeed huge, but if we can find a way to weaken Liu Taozi's power, wouldn't it be better?"

Dugu Yongye was a little confused.

"you mean"

"Everyone in the world knows the bravery of the Grand Marshal. Henan is now in great order, the army is well-trained, and there is sufficient food. Why not let the Grand Marshal lead the elite cavalry to attack the many towns under Liu Taozi's command?"

"It is autumn harvest time now. I heard that Liu Taozi's troops had a bumper harvest, but his army is not large enough to garrison all the areas. If we let the Grand Marshal lead more than 5,000 cavalrymen, mainly Baibao, and send some elite troops to harass and attack, so that Liu Taozi can't concentrate on making money, wouldn't that be great?"

Dugu Yongye hesitated, "However, the previous time we asked Duan Shao to lead the troops, the result was very bad. If we let him lead the troops again, I'm afraid there will be mistakes again."

Yang Su immediately shook his head, "General, don't worry!"

"This Liu Taozi is different from the Chen people. The Grand Marshal can beat the Chen people, but it's hard to say if he wants to beat Liu Taozi."

"Da Sima is very strong, but Liu Taozi is not weak either."

Dugu Yongye asked again: "What if this action leads to Liu Taozi's massive attack?"

Yang Su narrowed his eyes, "General, don't worry. If Liu Taozi wants to go south, the Great Zhou and the Turks will send troops to seize his soul. If we join forces, we can besiege Liu Taozi in Hebei. The army in his hands will not dare to launch a large-scale attack on any party!"

"it is good!"

"Then let's do as you said!!"

"Let Liu Taozi help us kill Duan Shao. I will go to the emperor later and use the emperor's edict to force Duan Shao to go to war. If he resists, we will capture him directly. If he accepts, he will die at the hands of Liu Taozi!!"

"Mr. Gao, you are responsible for this matter. You must not let Duan Shao come back alive!"

"only."

Dugu Yongye did not deliberately lower his voice. Many people around him heard his last sentence, but no one cared that much.

Dugu Yongye had already brought them back to his side, and what he could give to everyone was what Duan Shao could not give.

Yang Su accompanied Dugu Yongye to drink for a long time. Dugu Yongye drunkenly asked, "Mr. Gao, when do you think I can get my own surname back?"

Yang Su said sincerely, "When Duan Shao dies, the general will be able to ascend to the throne of King of Han and restore the orthodoxy!!"

"Hahaha~~"

Dugu Yongye laughed again and fell drunk.

The next day, the Qi court issued an edict to attack many prefectures and counties under Liu Taozi's command, to recover the old territory in Hebei, and to recapture the old capital.

The imperial edict was issued directly to Duan Shao.

Duan Shao was in a dilemma at this moment. He was not that close to the emperor. Although the little emperor was smart, he was very afraid of him.

He was forcibly dragged out by Duan Shao and brought all the way here. The praise he received in the past was just a means of self-protection.

When he met the little emperor, the little emperor's face was still full of respect, there was no difference, and it was full of sincerity.

Dugu Yongye sat beside the emperor, with his head lowered, looking like a loyal minister.

This was something Duan Shao could not do. Duan Shao was accustomed to the majesty of those in higher positions. Even in front of the emperor, he was like this. He could not lower his head and show friendliness to a little kid.

An official read out the imperial edict, and the little emperor looked at Duan Shao expectantly.

"Your Majesty wants me to attack Liu Taozi, so I will naturally not hesitate."

"But, Your Majesty, please take care of yourself after I leave."

Gao Yan felt vaguely uncomfortable when listening to Duan Shao's words.

Dugu Yongye was very kind to Gao Yan, and even sent him the documents for the appointment of officials, asking him to make the appointment at will. Whoever the emperor appointed would be promoted.

This was also Yang Su's idea. Anyway, everyone on the list was Dugu Yongye's people, so it wouldn't make a difference whoever was promoted. On the contrary, it would make the little emperor happy.

However, Duan Shao was too strong when facing the emperor. He always forced him to do things and did not give him the slightest respect he should give to the emperor.

At least in the eyes of the emperor, the difference is obvious.

Dugu Yongye seemed to have not understood Duan Shao's words at all. He smiled and congratulated Duan Shao and celebrated for him in advance.

At the same time, Yang Su's house also welcomed guests.

The official in charge of liaison here stood in front of Yang Su with a very stern expression.

"Yang Jun!"

"Your Majesty once said that we are not allowed to attack Duan Shao. We still need him to deal with Liu Taozi. If Duan Shao dies, Liu Taozi can invade Da Zhou without any worries and won't have to worry about Henan. What do you mean by this now?!"

Yang Su looked calm as he picked up the wine cup and drank it in big gulps.

"Liu Taozi's development is too fast. If we can't find a way to interrupt him, he can split his hands and attack Duan Shao with one hand and Wei Xiaokuan with the other."

"I can't protect Duan Shao for too long, so it would be a good idea to let him fight Liu Taozi and cause as much damage as possible."

"As for what you're worried about, wouldn't it be great if Duan Shao died?"

"If Liu Taozi can invade Da Zhou with his army without any hesitation, he will despise Henan. Then, we can directly send troops from Henan to attack him."

The official was shocked. "Send troops from Henan? Who under Dugu Yongye can compare to Duan Shao? Do you think just anyone can defeat Liu Taozi?!"

Yang Su raised his head suddenly.

"I can do it!"

"Duan Shao? Who is Duan Shao?"

"There are no heroes, so Zhuzi became famous!"

"None of these people in the past could be considered great generals. Duan Shao was old-fashioned and unchangeable, Hulugu was reckless and greedy, and Liu Taozi was conceited and weak! The rest were not worth mentioning!"

"If Duan Shao were gone, I could lead the Henan army to attack Liu Taozi and chop off his head in exchange for a prince!!"

(End of this chapter)