Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 405 The Last Qi People
Liu Taozi raised the spear in his hand and threw it hard into the distance.

The spear flew out like lightning.

The knights only heard the sound of breaking air and a gust of wind blowing past their ears.

Dugu Yongye, who was wearing tattered armor and holding a short weapon, was pierced by the spear.

"Crack!!"

With the sound of breaking bones, the picture froze.

Dugu Yongye still held the knife in his hand, his eyes fierce, and the warhorse under his crotch maintained a charging posture.

The spear went through his abdomen, half behind him and half in front of him.

The picture suddenly shattered again.

Dugu Yongye flew off the horse, blood splattering.

The surrounding knights were in panic, and the elite guards who followed Dugu Yongye and had experienced many battles also showed fear on their faces.

The commander they had protected for many years died.

The Han knights did not give them a chance to breathe and rushed forward, causing the guards to fall to the ground one after another.

The charred earth was coated with a layer of blood red. On a dead tree in the distance, an evil bird was staring at the ground, as if trying to pick up some food to eat.

The ground was covered with corpses, and the war horses that were still able to stand stood quietly by, wailing mournfully.

The fully armed soldiers were picking up the bodies and piling them together.

Some people started digging holes on the spot to bury the enemy.

Kou Liu walked to a high ground panting, his face was covered in blood, one of his hands could not be lifted, his face seemed to be hit by something, one of his eyes was swollen, and he looked miserable.

"Brother."

He spoke.

Liu Taozi had already dismounted and removed half of his armor. He stared at the battlefield opposite him in silence.

"I failed to stop Dugu Yongye, and he frightened the emperor."

"Don't talk nonsense."

Liu Taozi interrupted him.

After Dugu Yongye left the city, someone quickly informed Liu Taozi of the news. Liu Taozi asked Zu Ting to take Zhang Heizu and Shi Wansui to recapture the area around Jinyong City, while he himself led the bandits to pursue Dugu Yongye.

Dugu Yongye ran very fast, and they ran not slow either.

After chasing for another day and night, we finally caught up with the enemy here.

Dugu Yongye did not continue to escape, but launched a counterattack with his last confidant. The fighting was fierce, and Dugu Yongye once reached the central army position where Liu Taozi was.

Then Liu Taozi threw his spear and killed him.

Kou Liu said no more and followed Liu Taozi's gaze to look at the corpses.

The last group of Qi warriors, the Old Xianbei or those who called themselves the Old Xianbei, also died on the battlefield.

These people were rude, vicious, brave, unruly, and straightforward. They rushed out of the Six Garrisons with their swords raised, and then terrorized the world for decades.

The State of Qi rose because of them and perished because of them.

After clearing the battlefield, Liu Taozi led the bandits towards Jinyong City.

The road was completely destroyed. Several counties in Luozhou and the villages outside the city were almost razed to the ground. All we could see along the way were corpses.

Looking at the wreckage, Kou Liudu was so angry that he wanted to kill Dugu Yongye a few more times.

It wouldn't be too much for him to die as many times as he wants.

Jinyong City still retains the scars left by the many wars between Zhou and Qi.

Traces of catapults can be seen on the city wall. There are many gaps and it is not complete. The surface is full of holes. You can even see broken arrows stuck in the cracks of the city wall.

When Liu Taozi led the knights here with severed heads and various flags, Zu Ting had already completed his mission.

After Dugu Yongye escaped, chaos broke out here.

Those who had brains began to flee to other places, most of them ran south, wanting to join the State of Chen.

The brainless ones took the opportunity to start looting, plundering granaries, and even wanted to plunder the palace.

When Zu Ting arrived, there were no soldiers left in the city capable of fighting, and only a group of bandits remained.

Zu Ting took the city without much cost, and sent people to control the city gates, and then arrested and suppressed them one by one.

Many of the rebels were killed, and the rest were imprisoned after surrendering.

Most of the ministers under Dugu Yongye who did not have time to escape chose to surrender.

Of course, the most crucial thing was that they captured Gao Yan, the little emperor established by Dugu Yongye and Duan Shao.

When Liu Taozi and others arrived at the city gate, Zu Ting brought the captives to greet the King of Han at the city gate.

The young emperor Gao Yan stood at the front with a look of fear on his face. His clothes had been changed into ordinary clothes, and there were elite soldiers on both sides.

He is a smart kid, but at heart, he is just a kid.

If he could live till summer this year, he would be eleven years old.

Zu Ting stood proudly to the side, his eyes sweeping over the little emperor with inexplicable malice.

When Liu Taozi appeared in front of everyone, everyone bowed to him.

Zu Ting looked at the bewildered little emperor and whispered, "If you want to live, you must perform a great ceremony and accuse Duan Shao and Dugu Yongye."

The little emperor began to tremble all over and didn't know what to say.

Zu Ting's eyes gradually became colder.

Liu Taozi got off his horse, walked in front of everyone, and pulled Zu Ting up. "What's the situation in the city?"

"Your Majesty, the people who caused the rebellion have been arrested, and the ministers under Dugu Yongye have not escaped. And this fake emperor has also been captured by us."

Liu Taozi then turned her gaze to the little guy beside her.

Gao Yan raised his head and looked into the eyes of the notorious rebel.

Liu Taozi just glanced at him and turned her head away.

"Send this little kid to Pingcheng."

Zu Ting was a little anxious. He hurried over and whispered, "Your Majesty, the demise of Qi is a big deal."

"Duan Shao took the imperial seal with him. We can let him hold the imperial seal and formally surrender in front of the people of the world, condemning the actions of Duan Shao and Dugu Yongye, and proving that Your Majesty is destined by heaven."

Listening to Zu Ting's words, Liu Taozi looked at him with an intriguing look.

"Grandfather."

"Why are you using this stuff again?"

"Do I need a little doll to prove whether I am destined to be the one?"

Zu Ting never backed down on certain issues. He said seriously, "This is not an ordinary kid. This is the emperor in the eyes of many people who miss Qi. He is the last relic."

"Many people south of the river may not know Duan Shao and Dugu Yongye, but they must know the Emperor of Qi."

"It is necessary to get the emperor to surrender. Our troops are taking over the prefectures and counties everywhere. Once this news is made public, it will help us clear the last obstacle and let the world know that Qi no longer exists. From now on, there will only be Han."

Zu Ting kept talking on and on.

Liu Taozi didn't care anymore, "Then Grandpa, go and do it."

Only then was Zu Ting satisfied.

Liu Taozi led the rest of the people into Jinyong City.

When his army reached Jinyong City, they had no plans for the next step.

Liu Taozi had indeed accumulated a lot of food last year, which was why he was able to send so many troops to the battle this year. However, the spring planting season was approaching, and the war should gradually subside.

After returning to the palace, Zu Ting immediately took out his new strategy book.

After handing the document to Liu Taozi, Zu Ting was busy working on the standard procedures for the demise of the Pseudo-Qi.

Liu Taozi didn't care much about the process, but was quite concerned about the new strategy.

Zu Ting's original strategy was to focus on the Pseudo-Zhou, letting Liu Taozi lead the armies of the four states and cooperate with the army of Lingzhou to attack from the north.

Because of Yang Su, the firepower of the Han army was transferred from the north to the south, and the main attack direction was changed from the Pseudo-Zhou to Henan.

From this perspective, Yang Su's strategy cannot be said to be completely useless.

Given the current state of the Pseudo-Zhou Dynasty, if Liu Taozi led the main force and many famous generals to attack from the north, it is hard to say what would happen.

Zu Ting changed his strategy at that time. He openly attacked Dugu Yongye and killed Duan Shao, but secretly divided his troops to attack Zhou and seize its Xiazhou defense line.

Zu Ting's strategy failed.

The reason for the failure was that Liu Taozi hit too fast.

First of all, it was Duan Shao. Dugu Yongye directly forced him to death, which led to Liu Taozi's rapid development here. Dugu Yongye was also a capable general, but compared with Duan Shao, the difference between the two was at least two Huang Facui.

Without Duan Shao, the Qi army, especially with the people's support against it, could not stop Liu Taozi and collapsed repeatedly.

This situation became even clearer when Liu Taozi crossed Hanoi and arrived in Luozhou.

No place wanted to fight anymore and surrendered directly.

Zu Ting thought that the people south of the river would not surrender, because the Han army's behavior north of the river was known throughout the world, "indiscriminate killing of innocent people", "burning, killing and looting", "destroying temples", and "equal distribution of land".
Those who were killed were nobles who were not worthy of being human, those who were robbed were the powerful families who had nothing to do with human affairs, and those who were destroyed were the foreign monks who robbed and plundered.

These three have a lot of say in the local area and are the most powerful.

After seeing the fate of their accomplices in the north, how could these thieves who bully the people surrender easily?

But Zu Ting still overestimated them.

When they really encountered the butcher's knife, they dared not talk about justice anymore and took the lead in surrendering, hoping that surrendering early would save their lives.

From one extreme to another.

They flattered Liu Taozi at all costs and praised the Han army to the sky, hoping to get some meat to eat in the new era. If they couldn't, they would at least be alive.

Zu Ting thought they were not tough, but he didn't expect that they had no bones at all, not even cartilage, but just some skin bags wrapped in feces.

But in this way, Zu Ting's strategy of conquering Henei and taking Xiazhou in the north would be ruined.

The south surrendered directly, and the north couldn't even hold Yanzhou because of internal strife.

Zu Ting was not ready for this.

There were originally a lot of official reserves, but now they are all gone and there are not enough left.

The chaos and devastation in the south were beyond Zu Ting's imagination.

Taking over the counties in the south is not difficult, but the most important thing is how to keep the hungry people there alive after taking them over.

After Dugu Yongye's evil rule, several states in the south were crowded with disaster victims. It was obviously too late for spring planting this year, and even bigger problems would erupt after the autumn harvest.

And there are clearly not enough people to govern.

In addition, there was the war in the north, a battle to break through the defense line turned into a war to destroy the country. To be honest, if Liu Taozi gathered an army from Luozhou now, and then joined forces with Wang Lin to attack directly in the direction of Chang'an, the Zhou Dynasty might really be destroyed.

Among many decisions, Zu Ting chose the most conservative one.

Liu Taozi grabbed Zu Ting's document and looked at it for a long time.

Zu Ting believed that the war in the north should not be delayed any further. Although there was a possibility of destroying the Zhou Kingdom, with the current national strength of the Han Kingdom, even if it destroyed the Zhou Kingdom, it would be impossible for it to swallow it all in one go. Human greed is like a snake swallowing an elephant.

Since it has exceeded the originally anticipated strategic goal, it is time to stop in time and switch from offense to defense. Let Gao Changgong lead the generals to continue to garrison and protect the current territory. Even if Yanzhou and a few cities are taken away by the enemy, it doesn't matter. As long as the Xiazhou defense line is still in our hands, nothing else matters.

The main national strength should still be placed at home, that is, in the south of the river that has just been acquired.

Hebei produces strong troops, while Henan provides money and food.

In the past, the State of Qi had to prepare grain from Henan and transport it to Hebei every year as military supplies.

Although this place has been tormented a lot now, the arable land is still fertile. In the past, the grain output of the three states of Yan, Xu and Liang alone was enough to match the grain output of more than ten states of the Pseudo-Zhou.

The most important thing is to divide the administrative areas first.

In the past, ten prefectures were established in Hebei, including Guangzhou and part of Qingzhou south of the river.

Zu Ting believed that seven states should be established south of the river.

Luozhou with Luoyang as the center, Yuzhou with Runan as the center, Yanzhou with Liangcheng as the center, Xuzhou with Pengcheng as the center, Haizhou with Langya as the center, Chuzhou with Jingshan as the center, and Weizhou with Gaoping as the center.

He drew a rough map by hand, which showed the approximate distribution and territorial scope of each state and county.

As for the selection of the governor, Zu Ting could not give any suggestions, and he only recommended three people.

One of them is Fang Bao, the former magistrate of Cheng'an County.

He was the man who believed in Huang-Lao doctrine and governed Cheng'an in an orderly manner. Liu Taozi had a very high opinion of him, and Zu Ting always kept this man in his heart.

Although Zu Ting was not very fond of him, he recognized his ability to govern the local area. As soon as the new state was established, he could not wait to let him take office.

Zu Ting wanted Lao Fang to be the governor of Yanzhou. His theory was not suitable for a state that directly faced the enemy, but for a state in the hinterland, like Yanzhou, which had fertile land and concentrated population, it would be suitable for him to do so.

The second is Su Qiong, an official in the imperial court. He was the one who proposed to reduce the loss of military farms on the border when Gao Yan was still alive. In a sense, he was also one of the "heroes" who helped Liu Taozi get started.

This man was honest and loved his people like his own children. When he was in the local area, he refused all the fruits and vegetables given to him by others. He encouraged officials to read and study more, and personally taught the people in the country etiquette and culture.

In other dynasties, this move would seem a bit pedantic, but in Qi State it was truly wise.

In the past, when floods occurred under his rule and the government had no relief, he would personally visit the wealthy families in the country and lend them grain to appease the victims. He saved more than a thousand households and allowed them to survive. He was a fair person who liked to redress grievances for the people, and offended many powerful people.

Zu Ting thought it would be most appropriate to appoint him as the governor of Xuzhou.

The last one is Meng Ye, an official from the Censorate.

This Meng Ye was a man who loved the people. When Gao Zhan first came to power, he issued a "donkey-raising order", stipulating that the people had to spend money to buy donkeys, and each state and county had to raise a specified number of donkeys, and those who did not raise enough donkeys would be punished.

The people were poor and could not afford to pay. The emperor issued repeated orders to urge them to pay, but Meng Ye secretly opened the warehouse and used the money to buy donkeys to make up the number. Later he was exposed and arrested in Yecheng, where he was almost killed.

This person's talent is not particularly outstanding, a little worse than the previous two, but fortunately he has experience in local governance, is generous, and is good to the people.

Zu Ting gave these three candidates. Even with these three, there were still four missing provincial governors, and the counties in various places needed governors and county magistrates.
Not only that, the north has conquered many places. Even if it does not inherit the five states of the Zhou people, it must at least establish a Xia state to rule the surrounding areas, and a governor must also be appointed there.

From this perspective, the Han Kingdom needs to add at least eight new states, and in addition to the three people just now, it will also need five governors.

As for prefects, county magistrates, etc., there are countless of them.

Liu Taozi put away the memorial. He was quite supportive of Zu Ting's current strategy.

He had to find a way to stabilize Henan as soon as possible. As for destroying the Zhou Kingdom, he was not so anxious.

Liu Taozi immediately issued an imperial edict, ordering someone to deliver the edict to Pingcheng as quickly as possible.

The content of the edict was also very simple, concerning the establishment of several newly established states and the appointment and dismissal of appropriate officials.

Liu Taozi still hoped to get some advice from the court regarding the appointment of new prefectures and even new officials.

As for himself, he was resting in Jinyong City and accepted the "Seal Offering" arranged by Zu Ting, announcing to the world that the remaining forces such as Dugu Yongye had been completely eliminated, and that there would be no more Qi State left in the future, and all of them would belong to the Han State.

After doing all this, Liu Taozi slowly turned his gaze to the neighbors to the west.

On the battlefield of Yanzhou, Gao Changgong fought fiercely with several generals of the Zhou State.

Yuwen Xian refused to end the war just like that; he wanted to take back everything he had lost.

Kou Liu, Zhang Heizu and others dispatched troops everywhere with Luozhou as the center and stationed in many cities.

Wang Lin finally crossed most of the Pseudo-Qi and led the vanguard troops successfully to Luozhou to meet up with Liu Taozi.

The army he brought with him was only over a thousand men, and the rest of the troops stayed in the cities that had already been occupied, or were continuing to take over the remaining states and counties that had surrendered.

After Wang Lin arrived in Jinyong City, he couldn't wait to meet Liu Taozi.

(End of this chapter)