Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 421 Xiaoliang Kingdom

Yuwen Xian asked Qian Ming about many things and gradually came up with an idea in his mind.

"Go back first and tell your master not to think about conquering other states and counties."

"what?"

Qian Ming was somewhat stunned. He quickly said, "Your Majesty, you don't know that these states and counties have a large number of naval forces."

"War is not won by numbers."

"Your master is very powerful in Xiangzhou and Bazhou. The local people are willing to obey him. This is his real strength. If he forcibly recruits the surrounding troops, not to mention how much ability they can show in battle, they may become a burden and drag down the army."

"In addition, your lord's army is not as strong as the Chen army. At this time, he has to divide his troops and fight the enemy from multiple directions. Then he will be invaded by the Chen army from multiple places. He will not be able to take care of both ends and will surely suffer a disastrous defeat."

"Tell him my words and let him obey my instructions."

Seeing Qian Ming still hesitated, Yuwen Xian immediately said: "I have fought with Gao Changgong in the north, and I have fought with Liu Taozi in Luozhou in the past. I know a lot about military affairs. If we lose, I will take all the blame. I swear to heaven, so he doesn't need to worry."

Qian Ming then hurriedly lowered his head and said yes.

Yuwen Xian added: "I will dispatch a large army to your master's side to fight the enemy together."

"Before I arrive, let your master shrink the defense line. The enemy will definitely take advantage of its military strength. The navy will hold your master back, and let the infantry attack the city in the rear!"

"One city or one place is not important."

"Tell your lord not to worry too much. Even if the enemy has captured the city, don't panic. Continue to hold on and wait for my army to arrive!"

Qian Ming reminded cautiously: "Your Majesty, the enemy doesn't know that we have started an uprising yet. I'm afraid their army won't arrive before you arrive."

"No, they can't be unaware of this. I even suspect that their troops are already distributed around you, but you just don't know it yet. I have heard of the names of Huang Fachi, Chunyu Liang, Xu Du and others. I heard that these people repelled Liu Taozi in Lianghuai. Huang Fachi even thwarted Liu Taozi's offensive several times. Such people should not be underestimated."

Qian Ming still felt that the king was thinking too much, but he would have to rely on the king for support in the future, so how could he dare to say no?

Yuwen Xian was afraid that this person couldn't explain it clearly, so he looked towards the door and said, "Come in."

The next moment, a young man appeared in front of them.

"This is my chief officer, Yang Su. Let him go back with you. He will inform your master of the matter."

"only!!"

A speedboat was sailing rapidly towards Bazhou.

Qian Ming was standing at the bow, chattering incessantly about the characteristics of his own boat to the Zhou man who was traveling with him.

There was no trace of unhappiness on Yang Su's face, and even his usual arrogance was not visible.

Facing this obviously flattering Chen man, Yang Su behaved even more politely than he did.

"It's worthy of being the Southland! Just with this fast ship, you can imagine how powerful the thousands of naval forces of the Southland are!"

Yang Su praised with a smile, and such praise made Qian Ming even happier.

As the two of them walked along, their relationship became closer and closer. Qian Ming originally thought that it would be difficult to get along with this young man, but he did not expect that he would get along so well with him. During the conversation, Qian Ming was surprised to find that this man's interests and hobbies were exactly the same as his own! !

Qian Ming never thought that he would find a confidant in Zhou State.

So, he no longer concealed many things.

"Mr. Yang, in fact, not all of my lord's subordinates are willing to belong to the Great Zhou. Some people want to submit to the Han Kingdom."

"Oh?"

"Could it be the Cao Qing you mentioned earlier?"

"It's this person!"

"Mr. Yang, you don't know. This guy was originally just a savage. Later, he was lucky enough to be valued by Wang Lin. After Wang Lin was defeated, he immediately turned against him and surrendered to Da Chen."

"My lord, you have been deceived by such a villain. Every year, you have presented merits to him. He is a barbarian, a lowly official who was captured and surrendered. How dare he show off in front of us? My Wucheng Qian family is not a wealthy family, but we have scriptures passed down from generation to generation. In the past, we followed Emperor Wu to establish the country. Are we not as good as him?"

Qian Ming became angrier as he spoke, and Yang Su became equally annoyed when he heard what he said.

"No wonder he persuaded Lord Hua to surrender to the Han Kingdom. He is such a villain!"

"Don't worry, he will get his comeuppance!"

Qian Ming was overjoyed.

Liang State is very close to Hua Jiao’s camp.

Because of the shortage of infantry and cavalry, Hua Jiao led the navy directly to the Bailuo Ze area. He planned to send troops to various places from here and recover more areas to serve him as soon as possible.

Just when he was about to send troops, Qian Ming finally arrived here with Yang Su.

Hua Jiao summoned them immediately, still on the Bi'an ship.

It was the first time for Yang Su to board such a large ship, but there was no surprise in his eyes. He only smiled and complimented Qian Ming when he showed off.

Qian Ming informed Hua Jiao of the situation, and brought Yang Su in and introduced him to Hua Jiao.

Hua Jiao looked at the young man in front of him. He saw that he had a handsome appearance and extraordinary bearing. He did not dare to look down on him and let him sit next to him.

Yang Su was also very polite towards Hua Jiao.

He first expressed the goodwill from the Zhou Kingdom on behalf of Yuwen Xian. He said that if Hua Jiao was willing to submit to the Liang Kingdom, he would be one of the Three Dukes if he stayed in the Liang Kingdom, and would be a Duke if he came to the Zhou Kingdom, and the rewards would definitely not be less.

In addition, all the people under his command also received rewards.

These words made the officials around very interested.

Hua Jiao didn't care much about these big cakes, he cared about the reinforcements.

"I wonder how many days it will take for Zhou's reinforcements to arrive?"

"My king has been gathering troops near Jiangling and inspecting the navy for a long time."

"Right now, the five major military headquarters of our Great Zhou in the south are about to gather together. The armies of these five military headquarters will be led by the King of Qi. They will be able to meet you within twenty days."

Hua Jiao laughed, "I have also heard of the reputation of the King of Qi. I heard that although the King of Qi is young, he is very good at fighting."

"exactly."

"No one in the Zhou Dynasty could defeat the King of Qi in battle. When the King of Qi was in Yanzhou, he defeated Gao Changgong, Hulugu, Yao Xiong, Gao Yanzong, Huluxian and others many times with a small army, took back Yanzhou, and forced the enemy back to Xiazhou."

Hua Jiao didn't say anything, but the generals around him were extremely excited and looked very happy.

If you can't surrender to the King of Han, you can surrender to the King of Qi!

Hua Jiao asked again: "What instructions does the King of Qi have?"

Yang Su then told Hua Jiao everything that Yuwen Xian had said, and repeatedly promised that if there was any fault, Yuwen Xian would bear all the responsibility. He guaranteed with his own life that Yuwen Xian would never go back on his word. He hoped that Hua Jiao would fully cooperate with Yuwen Xian and not rush to send troops to attack.

Hua Jiao listened very seriously, and only nodded after Yang Su finished telling all of Yuwen Xian's instructions.

"Okay, I'll listen to you, Your Majesty. Do you have any other instructions, Lord Yang?"

Yang Su lowered his head hastily. "How dare I tell you what your orders are in front of you, the king sent me here because he knows your reputation. He asked me to come here as the chief secretary to convey his words to show respect to you."

Hua Jiao was overjoyed, "Okay, okay!"

"Come on, prepare a banquet to entertain our distinguished guests!"

Yang Su also learned his lesson in Qi State and always behaved enthusiastically, never showing that condescending attitude again.

Even when facing these guys whom he looked down upon from the bottom of his heart, he did not show any disrespect. Hua Jiao was very satisfied with his attitude.

At the banquet, Yang Su composed poems and drank and had fun with everyone. This young man from the Zhou State quickly gained everyone's love. Even Hua Jiao thought that this guy was really good.

Qian Ming mentioned several times at the banquet that Yang Su should meet Wang Lin's former ministers headed by Cao Qing and others, but Yang Su refused every time.

Yang Su whispered, "With a powerful enemy at hand, it is really difficult to do these things. Let's wait until we have repelled the enemy before taking any action."

Qian Ming had no choice but to give up.

Hua Jiao no longer divided his troops to attack, nor did he intimidate the officials around him. He only took the troops from the two states where he was in charge and retreated directly back to the Xiangshui camp from the narrower Bailuo Lake.

Start from all sides and get into a defensive stance.

Many generals under Hua Jiao disagreed. They all felt that Yuwen Xian was thinking too much. The enemy might have just learned the news of their dispatch and the army might not have been fully assembled yet!

It is really unreasonable not to take advantage of this opportunity to burn, kill and loot the surrounding areas, but to be trapped in the rear.

But this idea did not last for a few days before the State of Chen shattered their fantasy.

Xu Du and Yang Wentong led a large army and appeared to the east of Xiangzhou, while Chunyu Liang and Huang Fachi led a large number of navy and appeared directly at Bailuoze.

Also appearing along with it was the imperial edict of Chen Xu, the Emperor of Chen.

Chen Xu said in his edict: The traitor Hua Jiao was a lowly man of humble origins. He has achieved his present status because of Emperor Wen's appreciation. Instead of repaying his gratitude, he wants to rebel.
The first part is all about insults, but they are not important. What is really important are the two policies mentioned at the end.

First, pardon all officials who were forced to participate in the rebellion by bandits. As long as they are willing to surrender, their crimes will be pardoned.

Second, soldiers who were forced to become bandits because of the orders of their superiors would be pardoned and reinstated as long as they were willing to escape.

When these three things happened at the same time, Hua Jiao finally reacted and didn't want to continue the banquet anymore.

He hurriedly called Yang Su over, and this time, even his attitude was much better.

If it weren't for Yuwen Xian this time, he would have been in real trouble. He thought the emperor didn't know that he was going to take action, and was preparing to invade various places in a swagger. As a result, he found out now that the emperor had already started to take action.

If it weren't for Yuwen Xian, he would have been blocked in Bailuo and attacked from the rear. As long as he went back, he would be downstream and would suffer no matter whether the enemy chased him or shot him with arrows.

By then, I'm afraid I'll have to follow Wang Lin's example and take a dozen people and run north.

After understanding this, his attitude towards the Zhou people suddenly changed.

"If it weren't for the King of Qi, I would have been captured by the enemy. When I see the King of Qi, I will thank him in person!!"

"Thank you! Thank you!"

Hua Jiao's attitude softened immediately, and Yang Su also hurriedly persuaded him: "Don't say that. As the saying goes, a wise man will make mistakes even if he makes a thousand plans. You are a general who travels all over the south. The king respects you very much. This time he is just worried about your safety, fearing that you will use the gentleman's thinking to guess those villains and be deceived by them."

Hua Jiao rewarded Yang Su with a sword and asked Qian Ming to send him away.

Not only Hua Jiao, but also the people under Hua Jiao were becoming more and more enthusiastic and greeting Yang Su cordially, with the exception of those headed by Cao Qing.

Cao Qing and others watched from afar as Yang Su boarded Qian Ming's main ship, and Cao Qing snorted coldly.

Someone beside him suddenly said, "This King Qi is really not bragging! It's really as he said! If it weren't for him, we would have been arrested!"

"What's the difference?!"

Cao Qing interrupted the man unhappily, "The King of Qi can fight, but can he fight as well as the King of Han?"

"What do you mean by being forced to retreat to Xiazhou? Bullshit! Isn't Xiazhou their front line? They are still fighting with the King of Han in Luozhou. Is being chased considered a battle? Is standing next to the commander-in-chief and watching him fight others considered a battle? So, I followed General Wang and fought against all the generals of the State of Chen who could be named! I even captured Hou Andu! I was the one who kidnapped him!"

After hearing Cao Qing's words, these people hurriedly said, "General, be quiet."

These people are all Wang Lin’s old subordinates.

After Wang Lin was defeated, the more than 100,000 followers could not be killed all, especially since there were many naval talents among them. Chen Qian accepted these people and used them for his own purposes.

Among Chen Jun, a large proportion of them are Wang Lin’s old subordinates. Perhaps two out of ten people used to follow Wang Lin.

And as time went by, most of these people became military officers and had a certain influence.

So the Emperor of Chen really hated Wang Lin. It was like Cao Cao defeating Yuan Shao at Guandu and accepting the surrender of a large number of his ministers. But after the war, Yuan Shao didn't die, but surrendered to the enemy, and showed up from time to time, which made the morale of his army low. Who could stand this? ?
Cao Qing was not afraid. He said angrily: "The Zhou people are no match for the Han State. We are now fleeing to the Zhou State to escape the Chen State. Who will we flee to in the future to escape the Han State?"

"Besides, after Yang Su arrived, he spent the whole day hanging out with Qian Ming."

"Qian Ming, this villain, will definitely tell him about our original suggestions."

"When the war is over, I'm afraid we won't have a good ending."

When everyone heard this, they were immediately terrified.

"what should I do?"

Cao Qing narrowed his eyes and looked around. "Let's wait and see. If there is really no way to survive, then we will go find General Wang. We left him because we had no choice. He will definitely be willing to take us in."

When the other generals heard this, they all nodded and swore an oath that if anyone was murdered by Qian Ming and others, they would take action together.

White snail.

Huge fleets of ships sailed slowly on the water.

Leading the way were several giant beasts, which were only slightly larger than Hua Jiao's Bi'an. There were now four of them in total.

These four large ships are at a certain distance from each other and are not close together. Although they are many times taller and larger than the surrounding ships, there are huge differences in their appearance, size, masts and many other aspects. Even their colors are different.

Different craftsmen make different warships, all with obvious personal characteristics.

Huang Fachi and Chunyu Liang are now gathered on one of the large ships. This ship looks even bigger than the Bi'an. The bow is no longer flat, but covered with spikes, making it look like a ferocious beast.

There were many cloud and dragon patterns painted on the hull. This warship was called "Henghai".

Huang Fachi has more white hair between his temples compared to before, but Chunyu Liang looks the same as before.

The two got together again, and Huang Fachi frowned, very worried.

"Hua Jiao is good at governing, but not at military affairs. How could he have seen through our plan and retreated to the rear?"

Chun Yuliang was not surprised at all. "What's the big deal? After all, he is a veteran with many years of experience. He should understand this principle."

"Besides, he also defected to the Zhou people. I heard that Yuwen Xian was transferred here. Maybe this guy is behind him, giving him advice."

"Yuwen Xian, it's going to be hard to fight him."

Huang Fachu asked again: "Where is the envoy? Hasn't he returned yet? Are the Zhou people really going to break the covenant?"

"Covenant??"

"When the Qi people sent Yuwen Hu's mother over, Yuwen Hu led the Turks to attack Qi. What loyalty do they have?"

"Now that I see this huge piece of fat meat, I don't care about the covenant or the future. All I want to do is chew it up."

Chunyu Liang was much calmer than Huang Fachu. He advised: "Don't worry. If we were in the north, leading the cavalry to fight the Zhou people, I would still be worried. But now we are on the water. Even if the Zhou people and Hua Jiao's navy were mixed together, they would not be our opponents. Yuwen Xian has never fought a naval battle. What is there to worry about?"

Huang Fate shook his head, "I'm not worried about losing to Yuwen Xian, I'm worried about other things."

"We are short of food right now. If we can't pacify the situation as soon as possible, what will we do in the future? And Liu Taozi is lurking in the north. If he takes the opportunity to attack us, what should we do?"

Chun Yuliang was quite confident, "You worry too much."

"Before I left, I had already made arrangements. Even if Liu Taozi came to attack personally, he would not be able to take those key cities. As long as those cities are not lost, Lianghuai will still be ours!"

"Don't think about it anymore. Get rid of Hua Jiao and Yu Wenxian as soon as possible and report back!!"

(End of this chapter)