Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 433 Hunting Appointment with Zhou
The generals led by Cao Qing said goodbye and left one by one after the banquet.

They will rest in Luozhou for a few days and then take a boat directly to Gwangju.

After seeing them off, Liu Taozi summoned several leaders among the shipbuilders.

Previously, Yuwen Xian captured these people with the intention of taking them back to Zhou State, but those under Hua Jiao were eager to transport money for themselves, so they threw this thankless task to Cao Qing. Cao Qing did not hesitate, and took these more than 270 shipbuilders and directly fled the camp and came to Liu Taozi.

For the State of Chen, less than 300 shipbuilders were really nothing. I heard that several large shipyards in the State of Chen had thousands of master craftsmen, and factories with hundreds of people were considered small in the south.

But in the Han Kingdom, the situation is really different. In the Han Kingdom's largest shipyard, Gwangju, there are less than 400 shipbuilders, and their general level is relatively poor.

Among these shipbuilders, the leader was a white-haired old man. He looked extremely old, probably more than seventy years old. He was leaning on a cane and staggering. Liu Taozi didn't know how he could have arrived here safely from the south.

When these people were brought into the house, they were all very frightened.

When the old man saw Liu Taozi, he bowed down like Cao Qing. He was even more ruthless, muttering, "My lord, spare my life!"

This is almost the same reaction you would have if you encountered a robber outside.

This time, Yuan Wenzong was quick to stop the old man and prevent him from bowing.

Yuan Wenzong looked helpless, "Since the old man is holding a longevity stick, why should he perform such a grand ceremony?"

The walking stick in the old man's hand is a longevity stick, which proves that the old man is over 80 years old. At his age, he does not need to be polite to anyone, whether in the south or the north, the obvious laws and etiquette cannot control him.

Liu Taozi asked Yuan Wenzong to help the old man sit down, and then began to ask about his identity.

The old man's surname is Luo. According to him, his ancestor was Luo Xian, the champion general of the Jin Dynasty. Later, his family fell into poverty and started to engage in shipbuilding. It has been three generations since his death, and his son, grandson, and great-grandson are also engaged in this industry.

These craftsmen would often only pass on their skills to their direct descendants and rarely accept apprentices. Even if they did, they would have the apprentices become their own family members through marriage, marriage into the wife's family or other means before the apprentices could inherit the skills.

The leader among these craftsmen found by Yuan Wenzong was actually a member of the Luo clan. The people around old man Luo were either his sons or his nephews, and they all had the surname Luo.

Cao Qing was right, this old man had really participated in the design and manufacture of several giant ships.

At first, the old man and his juniors were all very nervous, but as the conversation turned to their work areas, the fear dissipated a lot.

"Mr. Luo, not all the people in the Northern Kingdom are bandits who kill without blinking an eye. The ones who robbed you from the local area were the Zhou people, not us Han people."

"We are now preparing to open many shipyards, if you are interested in helping us."

"Yes! Yes! Yes!"

The old man kept nodding his head, fearing that it would fall off if he nodded too slowly.

Yuan Wenzong was very helpless. In the south, the reputation of the northerners was too bad. Even the nobles there thought that the northerners were a group of savages, let alone ordinary people.
From this perspective, trade is actually quite good. It can break down the barriers between the two sides and allow both sides to understand that the other party is not what they have been rumored to be.

Liu Taozi didn't say much, mainly because these people were too afraid of him. It would be obviously better to let Yuan Wenzon talk to them.

At this moment, Yuan Wenzong had no choice but to use the most traditional method.

He waved his hand and warriors came in immediately. The craftsmen were so frightened that they turned pale and were about to kneel down again, but the warriors placed plates of money in front of them.

"This is."

"My Han country has always valued craftsmen. We provide subsidies to talented craftsmen on a seasonal basis. If you can come up with new things, you will receive other rewards. In addition, we will arrange accommodation for you where you work, and if your children want to study, we can also arrange a school for them."

The most traditional method, of course, is to persuade them with the benefits and motivate them with money.

The Han State has always attached great importance to craftsmen and provided them with various benefits and conveniences.

Not just blacksmiths, other types of craftsmen are included.

As Yuan Wenzong explained the treatment he was receiving one by one, the old man's eyes stopped shaking, he listened more clearly, and his mind was no longer confused.

They once again agreed to serve the Han Kingdom, but this time they were obviously much more sincere.

After finishing all the work, it was already pitch dark.

Yuan Wenzong was quite tired, but he still stayed with Liu Taozi.

"Yuan Gong, you must have been exhausted these past few days."

"How dare I complain in front of your majesty?"

Liu Taozi said slowly: "Leave the rest to me. You can go back and have a rest, and take care of your own things."

"only!!"

The next day, just after dawn, Liu Taozi led a group of knights out of Jinyong City.

There were more than two thousand knights, led by Shi Wansui.

They advanced along the official road and finally arrived at the border of Luozhou where they confronted the Zhou people.

This time Liu Taozi came to Luozhou to solve a more difficult problem here.

On the border of Luozhou, neither side dared to get too close, and they kept their distance from each other, with each side setting up checkpoints.

There is no need to explain much about the enemy's checkpoints, and the Han checkpoints are two huge camps set up on both sides of the official road. A large number of Luozhou troops are stationed here to guard against enemies from the west.

At this moment, the camp was bustling with people and extremely noisy.

Many people can be seen squatting outside the camps, shouting something loudly. Soldiers in the distance are staring at them and observing their actions.

These people all came from the Zhou State.

Logically speaking, in the past, when there were refugees fleeing from the Zhou State, the Han State was very welcoming and was basically willing to resettle them. But the people who came here now were all a little special.

Most of them were from the former great families in the north, or the children of some noble and military leaders.

Normal people fleeing here would definitely not dare to make such a noise. They would be quieter than the dead.

But at the moment, these people all looked particularly arrogant, and were very dissatisfied with being detained here and unable to return home. They urged the soldiers around them again and again. Shi Wansui rode a tall horse and followed Liu Taozi. He stared at the people in the distance. He was very familiar with these people.

"Oh, they are all nobles from the west, how come they have become so destitute?"

Yuwen Yong implemented many policies in his country, actively cracking down on nobles, and then the nobles in his country also began to run away.

In the past, most of them fled to the south, but because of the previous war between Zhou and Chen, the relationship between the two countries deteriorated rapidly, resulting in several roads leading to the south becoming difficult to travel and pass. Now, they have come to the Han State.

However, Liu Taozi felt that these people were deliberately sent here by Yuwen Yong.

Speaking of bad relations, the relationship between Han and Zhou was even worse. How could they not go to Chen but come to Han?

However, these dead people were not the problem that Liu Taozi came to solve.

Liu Taozi's idea towards these people is very simple. If they want to come in, let them in, but if they dare to break the law here, they will not be able to escape.

Liu Taozi led the knights past them, and the soldiers saluted.

The noise of these people suddenly became much quieter and no one dared to speak anymore.

As Liu Taozi led the group closer and closer to the border of Zhou State, their speed was gradually slowing down.

This is the Zhongzhou Pass of the Zhou State.

Even before getting close, you can hear the deafening shouts and cries of killing.

Shi Wansui and others drew their weapons and looked ahead vigilantly. Liu Taozi led everyone to a high ground, and everyone rode on horses and looked into the distance.

Looking down from a high place, you can clearly see the huge movements of the Zhou people in the distance.

The Zhou people were carrying out construction projects here. Some were digging ditches, and some were building cities and setting up camps on the spot. In the distance, one could see densely packed horse-drawn carriages heading in this direction. There were several training grounds around where a large number of soldiers were receiving training.

Shi Wansui's expression became more and more solemn.

This was the purpose of Liu Taozi bringing people here. The unusual movements of the Zhou people in the direction of Zhongzhou caused fear in Yuan Wenzong. He reported to the court, believing that the Zhou people had the idea of ​​attacking Luozhou. Only then did Liu Taozi come here in person to observe.

"How dare Yuwen Yong attack us right after finishing the war with the Chen people?"

"Even if he reformed and confiscated his property, he couldn't be so rich, right?"

“Besides, it’s not even autumn yet.”

Shi Wansui was confused. He didn't quite understand Yuwen Yong's intention. What was the purpose of transporting troops here? Was he still dreaming of attacking Heluo? ?

Has the North given up completely?

And can we send troops at this season?

Seeing Shi Wansui so confused, Liu Taozi pointed to the big flag in the distance and asked, "Can you see it clearly?"

Shi Wansui narrowed his eyes and looked at it carefully for a long time. "I can see it. It's the flag of a duke, but I don't know which duke it is? Could it be Yuwen Xian?"

"No, if it's Yuwen Xian, then the flags here should be those of the princes."

"This is Wei Xiaokuan."

Liu Taozi gave her own judgment.

"We are joining forces with the Chen people. This is Yuwen Yong's counterattack."

"He wants to attack us?"

"No, he wants to force us to extend the battle line. If we only build a checkpoint in Zhongzhou, we definitely won't need so many people. With such a large-scale deployment, I'm afraid these people are going to go all the way south from Zhongzhou to dredge the roads, set up defenses along the way, build post stations and towers, and establish a new battle line with Heluo, Yuhuai and Huaihe."

"It seems that Yuwen Yong is not willing to see us do too much in the south."

Shi Wansui immediately raised his spear, "Your Majesty, let me charge in for a round! Scare them off!"

"No need."

Liu Taozi shook her head slightly. "When we first founded the country, Zu Ting suggested that we could delay Zhou's recovery so that it would never be able to recover its full national strength."

"Look at them. They are shouting loudly and deliberately exiling people from the country to Heluo. They are afraid that we don't know about their actions. They are deliberately delaying the development of the south so that we can't concentrate on our work."

"I guess this is another suggestion from Wei Xiaokuan."

"So will they really attack from multiple fronts?"

“There will definitely be a lot of harassment.”

Shi Wansui was annoyed when he heard this. "These villains are used to this kind of trick. Your Majesty, what should we do?"

"He wants to prolong the battle, so we will help him do it."

"Someone, come and get me some ink."

Liu Taozi's face was as calm as ever. Shi Wansui just looked at him, and the annoyance in his heart was much less. He felt that as long as his majesty was around, everything was not a problem.

I only heard Liu Taozi continue to say:

"I want to write a letter to Huang Fachu and Chunyu Liang of the State of Chen."

"what?"

"What is there to write about them?"

"Ask them to go hunting and relax."

ps: I really can't write anymore, my hands are about to break. I will try to update as much as possible during the New Year period!

(End of this chapter)