Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 426 Different Evaluations
The huge team set out from Pingcheng and headed towards Yecheng.

In June of the second year of the Han Dynasty, the Liu Han regime finally began the process of moving the capital at the suggestion of its important ministers such as Zu Ting.

This small border town could no longer bear the heavy responsibility of the empire and was transformed from a capital to a secondary capital.

Liu Taozi ordered Gao Jie to go to Hengzhou to serve as the governor of Hengzhou, and ordered Hulugu to serve as the general of Hengzhou in his capacity as the general of the guard. At the same time, he designated Yecheng, Linzhang and Cheng'an as the capital of the empire, and the county magistrates there were of the fifth rank, different from others.

Liu Taozi rode a warhorse and walked in the middle of the team.

He hates riding in a car the most.

This time, he was not wearing armor, but a black military uniform. Although it was just a military uniform, the clothes were made quite delicately. The new Han Dynasty favored black, and from the crown to the rest of the clothes, most of them were black. The several dresses that Liu Taozi wore in different environments were also mainly black, embellished with red patterns, and matched with the standard Han Dynasty cloud and dragon patterns. They also absorbed the style of the Hu people's clothing, abandoning the wide and large design, making it more fitted but still expensive.

Liu Taozi didn't have any requirements for her own clothes. These were all designated by the officials of the Ministry of Rites, and this was the only thing they could ask the king to do.

The first group to leave with the emperor were the younger ministers in the country.

The older ones have to walk alone, and their pace should be slower to avoid casualties.

Zu Ting obviously belonged to the older group, but he followed Liu Taozi on the journey. After all, the old man was still in good health. Just a few days ago, a rumor about Zu Ting spread in Pingcheng. It was said that Zu Ting had an affair with a widow, but was blocked in the inner room by the widow's son. He looked very embarrassed. The widow's son even reported to the authorities, saying that there was a thief in the house. The officials rushed in and found that it was Zu Ting.

Such an outrageous rumor would seem absurd if it happened to someone else, but when it happened to Zu Ting, everyone felt it was reasonable.

This is something Zu Ting can do.

Many ministers wrote to the emperor, suggesting that Zu Ting should be severely punished. However, from a legal point of view, there seemed to be no provision prohibiting one from having affairs with widows, and they could not find a suitable clause to punish him. They could only impeach him for losing the dignity of an important official and fined him some salary.

Zu Ting still followed Liu Taozi in a swaggering manner, and from time to time a scout would come and bring him some letters.

These are all intelligence and news from various places.

Zu Ting would screen the information and report the important ones to Liu Taozi.

Zu Ting was reading the document in his hand when he suddenly became excited, as if he had discovered some treasure. He immediately sped up and caught up with Liu Taozi.

"His Majesty!"

Liu Taozi turned her head to look at him, "Hmm?"

"General Wang's letter."

Zu Ting hurriedly handed the document to Liu Taozi. Liu Taozi held the document in one hand and looked at it for a moment.

The document is short, but the content is very rich.

In his memorial, Wang Lin stated that he had captured the Hai'an Water Fort, seized a giant warship, and successfully blocked the road to the sea. Next, he could continue to encircle and suppress the Huai River Division.

Liu Taozi took a look and then asked, "Is this huge ship very useful?"

Liu Taozi was not familiar with naval warfare, and did not know much about these ships. Zu Ting laughed when he heard this, "Very big."

"Your Majesty, just understand it this way. Each of these giant ships is equivalent to an elite battalion of mandrills or a hundred guards."

"I heard that Chen Guolao's new giant ships add up to ten, while Zhou Guo only has three or four. At the moment, our Han Guo only has one."

"I see."

Liu Taozi probably knew the status of this huge ship, so he asked:
"What about the Qi State in the past? Wasn't there any?"

"No."

"Qi once had large warships, but when it fought against Chen, they were all destroyed and the country was badly defeated. Not many of the navy soldiers managed to escape."

"So, General Wang has already made great contributions."

Zu Ting continued, "Not only that, if General Wang can successfully defeat the Huai River Division, the results will be even greater. A detachment of the Chen State's navy is stronger than ours."

"If we can eat them all, we won't be able to fight the Chen people head-on, but at least we won't have to hide at the dock anymore and be unable to go out."

After taking over Henan, the coastal areas were all troubled by the Chen navy. Wang Lin was the same. Chen warships could be seen from time to time around Guangzhou, but Wang Lin could not attack. If their navy encountered the main navy of Chen, it would not even be enough to fill the gaps in their teeth. No matter how strong Wang Lin was, he could not confront several of the other party's giant ships head-on, and the other party had more than just giant ships.

In Haizhou, Chuzhou and other places, there were scenes where Han people were on land and Chen people were on the water, looking at each other.

Now that the navy has become stronger, the situation will finally improve. The navy of the State of Chen will not dare to cross the border so brazenly anymore, right?

Liu Taozi asked again: "What about the Zhou people?"

"No news. It's too far away. However, I think the Zhou people will withdraw. Although the Chen people are short of food, they have several generals who are good at naval warfare. They have a good relationship with each other and will not make trouble like the Zhou people. Yuwen Xian and Hua Jiao are definitely not their opponents. They have gained enough benefits, so they will withdraw without any regrets."

There was a hint of jealousy in Zu Ting's tone.

People are really lucky this week.

Why can't we have the good fortune of having the general of the State of Chen come to surrender with two hundred golden-winged warships?

General Wang fought desperately at the front line to capture a giant ship, and the Zhou people just came out and took away a giant ship, two hundred golden-winged warships, and there must be even more battleships.

There are so many guys who are good at water battles.

Zu Ting continued, "I was right. The Zhou people are going to attack the Chen people. Moreover, the Zhou people have obtained so many good things this time. As long as they wait for them to be digested, they can fight the Chen people again. It is not appropriate to put too much pressure on the Chen people now, otherwise the Zhou people will take advantage of it. Your Majesty, after General Wang captures the Huaishui Division, I want to send an envoy to the State of Chen. What do you think?"

"Chen Guo?"

"Why?"

Zu Ting said calmly: "Because the Chen people don't have any ambitions at the moment."

"We have captured too many cities and have to rely on Hebei to support so many regions. The pressure is enormous. Although merchants from Chen State frequently come and go, private trade is limited and cannot be made public. But if we can make friends with the Chen people, conduct comprehensive trade, and open a mutual market, the recovery speed of the counties south of the river will increase many times."

"The Chen people's treasury is poor, but the people are rich. They also need to restore their national strength as soon as possible. Our treasury is relatively sufficient, and the people are poor. They also need their goods."

"Your Majesty, you know that there are many people in Henan who cannot even afford cauldrons, tripods, and steamers at home. The prices of these common household items have soared to five or six times their original prices. We don't have many merchants, so we can only support them with national strength. But once we open a market with the Chen people, it will be different. A large number of Chen people will bring these necessities to the country, and the goods will flood in. Once there are more goods, the prices will come down."

"The Chen government collected taxes, its merchants made money, and our people had goods to use. This was beneficial to everyone."

"Many products of our domestic craftsmen are not independent, but are produced with a variety of raw materials and even a variety of tools. If the market is not open, the raw materials alone will become a problem for them."

Zu Ting was afraid that Liu Taozi would disagree, so he added: "The Zhou people are ambitious, or rather, Yuwen Yong is ambitious. He has always been committed to unification. Even if it is beneficial to both sides, he will not cooperate with us. The Chen people are different. Chen Xu's ambition is only to Lianghuai."

"I heard that when Chen Qian and Chen Xu discussed the situation in the north, Chen Xu believed that the country should send troops to Huaibei and Huainan to recover the lost territory if the country had sufficient strength, but Chen Qian believed that the country should continue to accumulate strength and strive to recover the entire Central Plains in one battle."

"This shows the difference in their ambitions. After Chen Xu conquered Lianghuai, he focused on consolidating his position and praising his own merits."

"He didn't have any other ideas. He just wanted to live in peace and continue to be the emperor."

"If it is beneficial to both sides, he is willing to join forces with us. He is even willing to follow us to fight against Zhou. This person is short-sighted and does not care whether we will attack him after we conquer Zhou. He only wants to get a piece of the pie when we fight Zhou."

"Yuwen Yong is our great enemy. If we want to achieve unification, we must defeat him first and then consider the State of Chen."

"Therefore, my current strategy is to ally with Chen to destroy Zhou."

"The army of the Chen people is not worth mentioning, but their goods, merchants, and wealth can help us a lot and help us restore our national strength and go to war with the Zhou people again."

"I just feel sorry that the Zhou people were one step ahead and joined forces with the Chen people in advance. Now the Zhou people are fighting with the Chen people just for some warships. This shows that Yuwen Yong has no long-term vision. He only thinks that he can solve all problems by imitating the Han State and eliminating the temples in the country and dealing with those big clans. But how can it be so easy?"

"We lost the strategic location in the north and our allies in the south."

Zu Ting scolded Yuwen Yong as being worthless. It seemed that he could not get those warships, so he began to smear the enemy frantically. He said that the grapes were sour because he could not eat them, and thought that the enemy was losing the big picture for the small one.

This is also an old operation of our ancestors.

Seeing that Liu Taozi still didn't nod, Zu Ting looked into the distance, waved to the knight over there, and made a gesture. A moment later, a man was brought to Liu Taozi's side.

This young man had just arrived in Pingcheng not long ago. He came from the south and was called Hou Mi.

He is the son of Hou Andu, the former general of the State of Chen.

After the young man was sent to Pingcheng, he first met Zu Ting and then met Liu Taozi. When Liu Taozi learned about his situation, he asked him to stay with him temporarily and wait until there was an official position vacant in the south before letting him take up the post.

Zu Ting called him over this time to ask him about the things in the south in order to convince Liu Taozi.

"I already understand what Grandpa is thinking."

"can."

Liu Taozi nodded and said, "If it is beneficial to the people under your rule, then let's do it."

"However, when you send the envoy, don't forget to tell Chen Xu about Hou Mi's matter. How can a man who can't even cure his own son rule the world? Tell him not to let his son wreak havoc on the local area. Otherwise, there will be punishment from heaven. If there is no punishment from heaven, I will punish him on his behalf."

Zu Ting was stunned, "Yes."

Zu Ting hurriedly took his distance.

The group continued forward, not moving too fast. Officials from all places had received orders, but Liu Taozi forbade them to come out to greet them, and told them to just focus on the affairs under their jurisdiction.

He also asked Gao Yun to set strict standards for the ministers who would migrate with him. There were standards for travel and expenses along the way. If one wanted to bring dozens of wives and concubines with him on the journey, or to eat and drink lavishly in the local area, he would be held accountable.

From Pingcheng to Yecheng, the scenery along the way is really beautiful.

It is the hottest season, and people are still busy with farming. This road has been repaired several times and is not as difficult to walk on as it was before.

There are more villages along the road, and bandits and wild beasts are no longer seen on the official road.

Under the sunshine, all the evil spirits disappeared, smoke rose from cooking fires everywhere, human presence replaced the eerie ghostly aura, and everything finally seemed to be back to normal.

Ten years have passed since the day Liu Taozi left Cheng'an.

Ten years later, everything is finally different.

Liu Taozi led everyone and walked for a long time before finally returning to Cheng'an.

Liu Taozi did not stop in many cities along the way, but only stopped in Cheng'an. Every time he passed by here, Liu Taozi would always come to take a look.

Cheng'an is only half a day's journey from Yecheng and can be reached at any time.

After staying in Cheng'an for a day, Liu Taozi set off again the next day and arrived in Yecheng.

The empire made its home here again.

royal palace.

Liu Taozhi stood blankly in a familiar place, raised her head and looked around.

Liu Zhang stood beside him, seeming to want to say something but stopping herself.

“I would never live in this place”

Liu Taozhi spoke, her tone very dull.

Liu Zhang held his hand and said, "Just don't live here anymore. Move somewhere else."

Liu Taozhi didn't speak for a long time. He didn't even want to stand here any longer. This place always gave him a terrible feeling.

If you stay here for too long, you'll go crazy.

Liu Taozi didn't care much about these things. He took the queen, who was extremely curious about everything, and wandered around the palace.

The palace is extremely large and has been empty all these days. Although Liu Taozi has been here several times, he is not familiar with it. Liu Taozi has a habit that whenever he arrives in an unfamiliar place, he will figure out the surrounding terrain and buildings as soon as possible and memorize them in his mind in case of emergency.

The queen was very excited. There were many fun things here.

For example, in the southern suburbs of the imperial palace, there is a huge garden where you can even see many strange animals.

Thanks to the hobbies of the past emperors, this palace has all kinds of buildings, including hunting grounds, horse racing courses, and archery ranges. If you play with all of these things one by one, you might not be able to finish them all in a year.

Liu Taozi just got a general idea of ​​the place and went back.

The capital had just been moved, and there were still many things in the country that needed his approval.

Since Lu Qubing and others have not arrived yet, the task cannot be completely handed over to Zu Ting. If there is no one to restrict him, Zu Ting will do something extremely extreme.

Just as they were moving in a hurry, news came again from the south.

This time the news came from Yuzhou.

The governor of Yuzhou wrote a letter saying that several generals from the southern kingdom came by boat to surrender to them. The leader claimed to be Cao Qing, the prefect of Changsha of the Chen Kingdom. They brought six large ships and 237 shipbuilders, saying that they would present them to Liu Taozi.

As soon as Zu Ting received the letter, he couldn't wait to come to Liu Taozi again.

"His Majesty!!"

"Destiny!"

"This is destiny!!"

When the people of Chen surrendered to the Zhou, Zu Ting was furious and said that the Jiangdong people were rats who only knew how to betray their master. But when the people of Chen surrendered to the Han, Zu Ting immediately changed his words and said that the southerners were smart and could submit to the will of heaven.

Zu Ting held the document in his hand, his face flushed.

Although no one opposed the relocation of the capital, there were still some people who talked nonsense. Zu Ting had always wanted to fight back against them. This was a good opportunity. After the relocation of the capital, he was immediately blessed with the mandate of heaven. First, he obtained a huge ship in the Huai River, and then people from Chen came to surrender one after another.

At this moment, Zu Ting was calling up the list of ministers who had talked nonsense in his mind, preparing to give them a severe lesson.

Liu Taozi carefully read the document, reading it several times, and then said with emotion: "General Wang is really a sharp weapon against Chen."

"This Cao Qing was General Wang's former subordinate."

"Let General Wang take charge of the army against the State of Chen in the future, and it will surely be effective."

Zu Ting did not forget to add, "Your Majesty, Wang Lin is very capable of winning people over, and he was once a king in the south. Your Majesty can trust him, but you cannot be too indulgent. You still need to control him a little."

Zu Ting was afraid that Liu Taozi would get angry, so he hurriedly said, "I heard that Wang Lin's son Wang Jing has a daughter who is only a little younger than Your Majesty. Your Majesty might as well let her enter the palace to serve."

Liu Taozi glanced at him.

"I married General Hulu's daughter, but my grandfather wants me to take General Wang's grandson as a concubine?"

"Isn't this an humiliation to General Wang?"

"Why does the king divide his wives and concubines?"

"But there are also concubines."

Zu Ting was speechless.

Liu Taozi waved his hand and said, "Since the relocation of the capital, many villains have spread rumors privately, saying that the feng shui of Yecheng is not good for the new country. Grandfather, don't think about dealing with foreign generals, but deal with these villains."

"only!!!"

(End of this chapter)