Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 383 He is already dead

Han, Ji County.

Outside the county town is endless farmland.

This is a large plain connected to Liyang County. The land is fertile. It is the kind of place where good crops will grow as long as people cultivate it.

This year is a year of bumper harvest, and there are many grains piled up on both sides of the official road.

The people have been farming for a whole year, and now it is finally time to harvest, so they are extremely busy.

An old farmer leaned against the donkey cart, holding a water bag in his hand, and watched his son load the grain onto the cart with a smile.

The donkey cart gradually became heavy and the wheels were pressed into the mud.

The old farmer's face, covered with wrinkles and ridges, was filled with smiles.

"Well, after paying the tax, it will be enough for the whole family to eat until next year. I think we can even buy a new set of clothes for the winter."

His sons were so tired that they were sweating all over.

But they did not feel tired, nor did they complain. They all smiled foolishly. In the harvest season, no matter how much they did, they would not feel tired. Every time they bent down and every effort was worth it.

“You were born at a good time.”

The old farmer sighed.

As they were busy, they suddenly heard the loud sound of horse hooves in the distance. Everyone was not afraid and continued to do their own things. Only the old farmer stuck his head out and looked into the distance.

A cavalry group appeared on the official road, all of them dressed as officers and soldiers.

There were more than ten of them, wearing light armor, riding their horses at full speed, with serious expressions on their faces.

Looking at the farmers busy working on both sides of the road, they shouted loudly.

"The enemy troops are coming! Run! Run into the city!!"

"run!!"

"run!!!"

The knight roared loudly and did not slow down. He rushed past the crowd. The people along the way who were immersed in the joy of the harvest suddenly had their dreams shattered.

The old farmer's face first showed astonishment, then despair, unwillingness and grief.

But he was still the one who reacted the fastest. He looked at the people on his left and right, "Run!!!"

The young men were still a little confused, "Father, so much food?"

"run!!"

The old farmer roared, and many screams and cries were heard on both sides of the road.

Everyone abandoned their food and farm tools, and just carried their elderly family members on their backs, running towards the city without looking back. Some even drove away with terrified looks on their faces, and the children cried helplessly.

The old farmer was carried on his son's back, his face dull.

It's rare to see good weather, peace, and a wise ruler.
Everyone fled crying. Dark clouds slowly appeared in the bright sky, blocking the dazzling light.

The ground began to tremble slightly, and a moment later, countless knights appeared on the official road in the distance.

They raised the Qi, Duan and other flags.

Duan Shao was wearing armor and holding a spear, walking at the front of the army.

He looked straight ahead.

The endless fields of farmland gave off the smell of a good harvest, and piles of grain filled the roadside.

The flat and open road extends all the way to the city in the distance.

They were standing on a high place, with the sunlight shining on half of their bodies. Duan Shao's face was intertwined between light and darkness, and his expression was dull.

Duan Shao stared straight at everything in front of him.

The vast tracts of farmland and wide roads here formed a sharp contrast with the Henan area under his rule.

When he led his troops out of Jinyong City, what he saw were piles of corpses, villages filled with billowing black smoke, and countless artificial disaster victims wandering around, eating everything they saw.

The stark contrast between the two made Duan Shao feel very uncomfortable.

He couldn't tell why, but he just felt uncomfortable.

The officers on both sides shouted loudly at this moment. Their eyes were full of greed. They stared at the food in the distance and laughed.

“What a great harvest!”

“What a great harvest!!”

"Da Sima!!"

Everyone looked at Duan Shao, who had a stern face and looked very unhappy.

"I have given orders many times not to wake up the enemy and to attack them. But what did you do? The enemy has already discovered us and is coming to kill us. How dare you still shout and scream here?!"

The officers were somewhat helpless, "Great Sima, this is not our fault. The thieves along the way were too alert, and there was no way not to alert them."

"Da Sima, let's act quickly. We can't give the enemy time to prepare!"

The generals urged again and again.

Duan Shao's chest began to rise and fall, his mind was in chaos at this moment, his whole body was burning, and he felt particularly depressed in his heart.

He suddenly raised the spear in his hand and pointed it at the mountain in front of him.

"kill!!"

The knights shouted and launched an attack. Their horses galloped forward and headed straight into the farmland. Some of them rushed towards the houses on the roadside.

I don’t know who did it, but a terrifying fire appeared above the farmland.

They couldn't take away much food, and if they couldn't get it, they would destroy it.

They came here with only one purpose, to destroy everything the enemy had as much as possible.

Dark clouds completely obscured the sky.

Everyone had their backs to the light, and no light could be seen on them anymore.

Cries of killing arose.

In the county town, the defenders kept rushing up the city walls, with their bows and crossbows aimed outside. They began to close the city gates without waiting for all the people to enter the city.

The county magistrate shouted loudly in anxiety, many officials surrounded him, and more and more people rushed to the city wall.

The city was in chaos and filled with grief.

Duan Shao's eyes reflected the flames rising into the sky.

He rode his horse forward and captured several farmers who did not have time to escape. The old farmers with disabled legs could not outrun the war horses.

"Tell me! Which direction of the city is Akakura?!"

The samurai raised his sword and questioned angrily.

The old farmer looked blankly at these ferocious troops, his eyes wandering around until they finally locked onto the general on horseback.

The old farmer's eyes suddenly became less distracted and became firm in an instant.

"When His Majesty sends the army over, we will kill you bastards."

"Pfft!!"

The knife flashed down and the old farmer's head fell to the ground.

The young man next to him roared angrily.

"Tell me!! Tell me!! Where is Akikura located?!"

The young man stared at Duan Shao's eyes viciously.

"You bastard! You bastard!!"

"You will not die well! You will be punished by God!"

"Pfft~~"

Duan Shao rode on his warhorse, his face numb and he said nothing.

Pingcheng, the ancestral home.

Zu Ting and Gao Yan were lying in the mansion, lazily basking in the sun.

Gao Yan asked, "When did Grandpa develop such a hobby?"

"I learned this from Wang Lin when I was in Gwangju. Now that I can't drink or have fun, I have to rest like this."

Zu Ting spoke leisurely and comfortably.

"Grandpa invited me here just to let me get some sun?"

“Not entirely, some things”

Just as Zu Ting was about to speak, a warrior rushed into the mansion at high speed. He looked hurried and rushed to Zu Ting's side and handed the document in his hand to him.

Zu Ting didn't care. He took the document and glanced at it casually.

Suddenly, his face froze and he jumped up.

He didn't even care about Gao Yan who was standing beside him and just rushed out of the door.

Gao Yan sat there in a daze.

"wack"

Zu Ting sat in the carriage, looking over the document in his hand again and again.

During these days, he followed Wei Xiaokuan's example and opened some restaurants in various places and recruited some people to collect intelligence.

And what he has in his hand now is the information from the Pseudo-Qi.

The enemy planned to appoint Duan Shao as the general and lead the cavalry to attack the many states and counties bordering the two sides.

Zu Ting frowned, thinking to himself that something was not good.

He arrived at the General's Mansion as quickly as possible and handed the documents in his hand to Liu Taozi as quickly as possible.

Inside the house, the two sat facing each other.

Liu Taozi picked up the letter that Zu Ting brought out and read it for a long time.

Then, he slowly put it down, his expression equally grim.

"Duan Shao has always been quick to act. He also knows that we cannot hide this kind of news from us. Therefore, he will send out troops at the same time as his temple issues the order. In other words, he may have already fought with the border counties at this moment."

Zu Ting cleared his throat and said, "Your Majesty, I think we can send General Hulu to lead the troops to strengthen the defense along the road to prevent Duan Shao from advancing further. As long as we keep him outside and occupy the exit of Hanoi, Duan Shao will not be able to attack and harass us again." Just as Zu Ting was persuading Liu Taozi to give the order as soon as possible, another warrior broke in.

The warrior brought military intelligence from the border, only one step slower than Zu Ting's letter.

The information brought by the warriors was that the border county had been invaded by Duan Shao.

Liu Taozi picked up the intelligence and looked at it again, and Zu Ting became more and more angry.

The content of the intelligence is simple.

Duan Shao led his army and wreaked havoc everywhere. He attacked three county towns, broke through one of them, burned farmland, killed, and looted, causing great damage.

Tu Xiyue, Potuo Luo and others are leading their troops to jointly set up defenses to protect the cities along the way.

Zu Ting looked at Liu Taozi with increasingly fierce eyes, and became more and more anxious.

"Bang!!!"

The next moment, Liu Taozi stood up and kicked.

The wooden table in front of him actually flew up and broke into pieces, shattering all over the ground.

Zu Ting was terrified.

Liu Taozi hid the document in his sleeve.

"Summon all the ministers to the palace to discuss important matters!"

Zu Ting rushed forward and held Liu Taozi's hand tightly.

"Your Majesty, I have something to report!"

"What do you want to say?"

"This is a conspiracy of the fake Zhou!"

Zu Ting said seriously: "The people I sent discovered that Dugu Yongye has teamed up with the Pseudo-Zhou and conspired to do things together."

"My grandfather has already told me about this."

Zu Ting shook his head quickly, "No, Your Majesty, I have discovered more things. The envoy sent by the Pseudo-Zhou Dynasty used the pseudo-name Gao Su. In fact, his name is Yang Su!"

"This person is a young man that Yuwen Yong has been very fond of recently, and he has been promoted many times!"

"Everything Dugu Yongye is doing now was secretly instructed by him."

"Duan Shao's attack this time was just a conspiracy by Yang Su."

"During the autumn harvest this year, we have stored a lot of food and grass, which is enough for us to go on the expedition. There are two enemies we can attack right now. We can go west to attack the Pseudo-Zhou, or go south to attack Duan Shao!"

"According to our original idea, we must take advantage of the fact that the Pseudo-Zhou has not fully recovered to actively seize the Pseudo-Zhou's territory and force them to give up the core area!"

"Yang Su knew what we were thinking, so he asked Duan Shao to provoke us!"

"If Your Majesty really leads the army to attack Duan Shao and destroy Dugu Yongye, then you will fall into the enemy's trap. Jinyong City is strong and it will take a lot of effort to take it down. Besides, the rest of Henan has been extremely devastated. Taking these places will not only not bring us any benefits, but will also hinder us. We can only use the grain from Hebei to provide relief!!"

"When Henan recovers, the Pseudo-Zhou will also recover!"

"Your Majesty, you must not be led by the enemy."

Zu Ting spoke very quickly, chattering on and on about his thoughts, just hanging on Liu Taozi's body.

"Grandfather."

Liu Taozi finally spoke.

"Why do you think I should be king?"

Zu Ting was stunned. "This..."

"What kind of king would I be if I couldn't even protect my own people?"

"Gather everyone!!"

Zu Ting pursed his lips and nodded in agreement.

Soon, the court ministers gathered in the palace, and they didn't know what was going on.

Zu Ting wanted to find some allies, but he didn't have the chance to leave, so he was taken there directly by Liu Taozi.

After everyone was seated, Liu Taozi took out the document and asked the official to explain it to everyone.

When the ministers learned about this, their reactions varied.

Many people are cursing and condemning.

Some of the violent ones have already proposed sending troops to kill people, while others, like Zu Ting, are worried and hesitant.

Zu Ting looked at Lu Qubing and Gao Yin in the distance.

Perhaps these two men can convince Your Majesty.

However, Lu Qubing looked particularly irritable at this moment, completely different from his usual humble and gentlemanly appearance. He was really angry.

After such a long period of careful governance, the north was finally stabilized and the people finally looked forward to the autumn harvest.

You fucking do that, don't you?

It was the first time that everyone heard Lu Qubing cursing so loudly and using foul language.

Zu Ting immediately gave up the idea and looked at Gao Yun.

Gao Yu's face was filled with sorrow.

He sat silently at the head of the crowd without saying a word.

But Liu Taozi was unwilling to wait any longer.

"Gather the armies of Heng, Shuo, You, and Ji states!"

"Open granaries everywhere to ensure the army has enough food for the expedition!!"

"Open the arsenal and equip the entire army."

"The court has added 18 new officials to accompany me. I want to go to the battle myself!!"

Liu Taozi did not come here to summon all the ministers to discuss what to do. He came to inform everyone that the war was about to begin and let everyone go back and make preparations.

Zu Ting already knew that he could no longer persuade Liu Taozi, so he could only accept it.

In his heart, he had cursed the man named Yang Su thousands of times.

Okay, Yang Su, right? Just wait and I’ll show you what the Easterners can do!
The court meeting ended hastily.

Everyone hurriedly began to prepare.

According to what Liu Taozi said, armies from four states will participate in this battle, which means a total of more than 40,000 troops.

The size of the army varies from state to state, and moreover, men have to be left behind.

If we really want to go on an expedition, there will be a lot of things to prepare.

Gao Yanzong stood here, but he no longer had the irritability he had in the past. His expression was particularly complicated.

At some point, Gao Yu appeared beside him.

Gao Yanzong was stunned and quickly lowered his head towards him.

"uncle."

Gao Yu nodded slightly and suddenly asked, "Are you unable to do it to Duan Shao?"

Gao Yanzong frowned, "A little bit. He was very nice to me in the beginning and gave me a lot of advice."

"If I had known this would happen, I would have killed him with my spear and made him the bad guy, so he could keep his reputation."

Gao Yu said slowly: "Duan Shao values ​​the country above all else. In his eyes, he is the one who has preserved his reputation, while we are traitors."

"And the methods he used were all used in war, so it can't be considered as losing his integrity in his later years."

Gao Yanzong was stunned.

"Uncle, what do you mean by this?"

"I mean, don't have any sympathy for him, and don't think he's on the wrong track. Just treat him as an enemy general."

Gao Yu was silent for a long time, then added: "Do you know?"

"This year, Ji County had a bumper harvest. Their county magistrate sent someone to deliver a letter not long ago, proudly telling us about the bumper harvest the county had this year. His words were full of pride. He even said that he wanted to continue to open up new land in the north and receive more dead people."

"Pity."

Gao Yanzong's eyes gradually became sharp.

"I will defeat him."

Gao Yu nodded, "I don't know how to fight, but I know that if you go against the will of the people and harm innocent people, you will definitely not be able to protect the country for long."

"only!!!"

"damn it!!"

"Yang Su!"

"Yang Su!"

Zu Ting paced back and forth in the courtyard, cursing madly with an excited look on his face.

After returning to his mansion, he finally stopped hiding his emotions.

Everything was originally in Zu Ting's plan. He first accumulated food and grass, and then gradually expanded his territory in Lingzhou, forcing the Zhou people to shrink their defenses. Then he took Liangzhou and Ganzhou, pressing forward step by step, forcing the Pseudo-Zhou to continue to move south.
Zu Ting's originally planned strategic direction had already failed because of Yang Su's provocation.

This time, my lord is sending out troops, generally speaking, to recover the entire Henan area. Even if this cannot be achieved, at the very least, we must seize the important passages through Hanoi and completely defeat the enemy, making it impossible for the enemy to easily cross the river to fight.

As for these dogs, the Pseudo-Zhou will definitely not just watch the two sides fighting each other. Now that the autumn harvest has passed, the Pseudo-Zhou should have recovered a lot.

Heluo is the place they have always dreamed of.

Zu Ting was stunned, and a bright light flashed in his mind.

The anger and irritability on his face disappeared, as if they had never appeared.

Zu Ting simply lay on the ground, took off his hairpin, and began to draw on the ground.

He drew several lines and revised them.

Suddenly, Zu Ting stood up with a gleam in his eyes.

"Hey hey hey"

"Yang Su, right?"

(End of this chapter)