Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 444: Not Afraid of Old Routines
Yecheng.

Mo Ge took a deep breath, changed into new clothes, stood at the gate of the palace, and silently recited in his mind again and again the etiquette he should use when he met the king later.

This meeting is extremely important and may even determine the fate of the Khitan nation for the next hundred years.

This time, because he had to wait for Liu Taozi, he stayed in Central Plains for more than two months.

During this period of time, he gained a deeper understanding of the Central Plains, or rather, a deeper understanding of the new regime.

Even though the grandfather was very close to him and expressed his willingness to help, the one who actually made the decision was the great Han emperor whom he was about to meet.

I don't know what his attitude towards me will be.

He looked to the other side again.

Mu Kunya stood there, he looked equally nervous and worried.

This is understandable. After all, his situation is worse than Mo Ge's. At least Mo Ge can talk to Zu Ting, but no one pays any attention to him. He finally managed to pull the Goguryeo people over, but something like this happened.

He was somewhat desperate about the situation that was about to happen.

It just so happened that among the Three Kingdoms, the Xi people were the closest to the Han Kingdom, and the two sides had fought against each other in the past, so their relationship was not good.

Thinking about the situation his opponent was facing, Mo Ge's mood suddenly improved a lot.

No matter how bad it is, can it be worse than the other party?
With this in mind, Brother Mo finally waited for the guards to come out and lead them in.

Under the leadership of these people, Mo Ge and Mu Kunya did not speak to each other and just kept moving forward.

They didn't know how long they walked before they were brought to a palace. After the guards left, they finally saw the great Han king.

Liu Taozi sat in the upper seat and looked at the two people in front of her.

Judging from their appearance alone, they are no different from the people in Hebei and they all look the same.

"Khitan envoy Mo Ge pays respect to Your Majesty!!"

The two of them gave their names in unison and bowed.

Liu Taozi looked at them for a moment and said, "Please take a seat."

The two of them dared to sit down.

Liu Taozi said, "I've heard from my grandfather about the two of you."

"You two both want to pay tribute and open a market, is that your intention?"

Mo Ge's face showed joy, and he hurriedly said: "We have admired Your Majesty for a long time. This time we come here to pay tribute to you. As for whether the market will open or not, we dare not ask for it!"

Mu Kunya cursed the shameless man in his heart, but he also hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, we are only here to present gifts! Your Majesty's majesty is known to everyone in the world. This time we only hope to bring the gifts to you, nothing else!"

The two began to sing high-sounding songs.

Liu Taozi shook her head gently, "I am a straightforward person, no need to hide."

"I have no objection to your mutual trade. If you want to live in harmony, that's even better."

"But there is just one thing. If you surrender today and rebel again tomorrow, I will personally attack you and when the city is broken, no one will be left alive."

Mo Ge raised his head. The emperor in front of him seemed to be a reappearance of a mad king in the past. He had experienced that period of time. He felt cold all over, speechless, and extremely scared.

Although Gao Yang was crazy and punching everywhere, he was not completely useless. At least he left a huge psychological trauma on the people on the border.

This led to the fact that for many years, when facing the rulers of the Central Plains, they always felt an inexplicable sense of horror, either fear or horror. As long as the other party showed a little bit of goodwill, they would become extremely excited and give them all kinds of respectful titles.

Mu Kunya was the first to react, "I would never dare to rebel against your majesty!!"

“My Lord follows me wholeheartedly!”

Brother Mo also hurried to follow.

The two of them started to boast again.

Then, of course, they presented their gifts. Of course, they did not bring the gifts directly to the emperor, but read out the list of gifts.

Liu Taozi then issued an imperial decree announcing their rewards and special honors.

Liu Taozi conferred the title of King of Loyalty on the commander of the Khitan tribal alliance, and conferred the titles of marquis on the leaders of the tribes under his command. He then conferred the title of King of Xi on the leader of the Xi people, and conferred the titles of duke on the leaders under his command.

The two envoys were extremely excited and hurried to express their gratitude.

After performing a series of trivial rituals, the two men left.

There is no need for Liu Taozi to talk about things like trade in person.

After both of them had gone out, Zu Ting came out from behind a screen not far away, with a particularly cunning smile, and slowly sat down next to Liu Taozi.

"Your Majesty, it seems they haven't noticed the difference yet."

"When the official pardon, staff, official uniform, seal, etc. arrive, they will understand."

Liu Taozi asked, "Can we put the border issue aside for the time being?"

"That's right. Let them play by themselves for a while. Your Majesty, it's time to destroy Zhou."

Zu Ting raised his head slightly, "Yuwen Yong was completely blinded by anger. He actually dared to take the main force of the army and leave the north to Jingzhou. He thought that we had expanded too much before and it was difficult for us to take in more food, so he looked down on us."

"Whether we can eat or not doesn't stop us from doing anything."

"How to digest it will naturally become clear after you eat it!"

"Your Majesty, the two countries are at war now, and we should take action sooner rather than later."

In fact, Liu Taozi had never discussed with Zu Ting about things like destroying Zhou. After going to Luozhou this time, the strategies and deployments made by Liu Taozi were all his own ideas, and Zu Ting had no idea at all.

However, Zu Ting had already seen through Liu Taozi's next plan.

This may be the tacit understanding between the monarch and his minister.

Liu Taozi said: "After autumn, I plan to rush to Xiazhou first, and wait until winter comes, then lead the troops of Ling and Xiazhou to attack Chang'an directly."

"The Zhou army is in Nanyang. If they learn that we are attacking Chang'an, they will be terrified. If they rush to evacuate, the Chen people can give chase. If they cannot evacuate, after we capture Chang'an, we can go and attack Yuwen Yong and capture him alive."

Zu Ting nodded and said, "If we mobilize the troops from other places to Xiazhou, it will cause too much noise. If the Zhou people learn of the troop movement, Yuwen Yong will immediately stop the war and withdraw to defend."

"The armies of Lingzhou and Xiazhou are both elite. It would be enough to take only the two of them."

Zu Ting took out a map from his arms and placed it in front of Liu Taozi. The two began to discuss the key points of this military expedition.

Both of them felt that this matter was not suitable for too many people to know. It would be best if Liu Taozi and Zu Ting secretly left in the name of going to the border and quickly rushed to the front line. The generals here only needed to instruct a few generals on the border to be prepared.

As for the strategy, the main focus was naturally on capturing Chang'an. This time, people finally began to care about the gains and losses of every city and every place.

Zu Ting has many craftsmen here, and he thinks that they can be brought along as well. If they want to attack Chang'an by force, these craftsmen will definitely play a huge role.

These two people act very quickly. They do what they say without any hesitation.

As for officials, Zu Ting believed that there was no need to prepare too much.

Although this is a war to destroy Zhou, it is impossible to destroy the entire Zhou Kingdom in one battle. It is wishful thinking to capture the entire Zhou Kingdom in one battle. The main goal is to break through Chang'an and destroy the core of Zhou Kingdom. If we can take the opportunity to kill Yuwen Yong, that would be the best.

The fall of the capital was actually not much different from destruction. The entire Zhou Kingdom was likely to become crippled and beheaded.

For the Zhou Dynasty, the fall of Chang'an was a catastrophe, but for the Han Dynasty, it was called "returning to the old capital."

Zu Ting’s plan was very well-thought-out. This time, he would serve as a military strategist and go to Xiazhou with Liu Taozi.

Mianshui.

The giant ship splashed through the water and rushed towards the Zhou army.

"boom!!"

A golden-winged ship had no time to dodge and was hit hard by the wooden pole of the giant ship, instantly losing its ability to move.

The water was densely packed with warships from both sides, with the number exceeding a thousand.

Among them are huge ships, medium-sized warships, and many small warships.

All I saw were broken pieces of wood floating on the water, shouts of killing, arrows flying at each other, and fire ships in the distance burning with raging flames, blocking the way of the big ship.

Hua Jiao stood at the bow, giving full command.

Hua Jiao learned from the last lesson and dared not fight with Zhou Chuan again. The two sides opened up the battle lines, with Hua Jiao on one side and Quan Jingxuan on the other. The two of them commanded their own troops and did not interfere with each other.

Hua Jiao's defection greatly improved the Zhou navy. Not only did they obtain many warships, but they also obtained many precious craftsmen. This enabled the Zhou navy to have the strength to fight against the Chen navy and not be completely at a disadvantage.

The two sides fought fiercely, and countless corpses floated on the Mian River.

At the same time, on land, both sides were also caught in a bitter battle. The morale of the Zhou people was high, the generals were extremely brave, and with the emperor behind them, they all charged forward without regard for their lives. The Chen people occupied the dangerous terrain in advance, and with the protection of the city wall, Huang Fachu and others commanded with all their strength, repelling the enemy's fierce attacks again and again.

The blood of both sides dyed every inch of Jingbei's land red, and a large number of soldiers died every day.

However, the battle line was constantly being pushed forward, the Zhou people's offensive was becoming more and more fierce, and the situation on land was becoming increasingly unfavorable to the Chen people.

Nanyang City.

Huang Fatic stood on the city wall holding a large bow, staring at the enemy in the distance.

His face was covered in blood and his armor was in pieces.

The enemy's offensive was too fierce.

After Yuchi Jia blocked the retreat route, he counterattacked again and launched a fierce attack for several days, almost without stopping. Huang Fachi fought like this for several days in a row.

Yesterday, he ordered Xiao Mohe to attack outside the city while the enemy was rotating their attacks. Xiao Mohe killed everyone in his way and successfully shot and killed an enemy general. Then he brought the rest of the people back. Only then did the Zhou people's offensive subside a little.

Even so, the atmosphere in the city was still a little off.

When they shouted that they wanted to capture Jiangling, everyone was extremely excited and excited.

After Liu Taozi left, they proposed to concentrate their forces to capture Jiangling first, and then use Jiangling as the base to defend against the Zhou people.

Not to mention how many troops were stationed in Jiangling, the city wall alone, which had been reinforced several times, was not something that could be taken down in a short period of time.

Huang Fachi is now glad that he did not follow them to attack Jiangling. Now he seems so overwhelmed just defending Nanyang and other places.

The generals who used to shout all day long are now completely silent.

After suffering several sieges, everyone understood what the Zhou people were like, and their faces were filled with fear.

Those who came here to gild their reputations are now so frightened that they hide in the government offices and cry loudly, not even daring to go out.

Huang Fatichen stared into the distance in silence.

"What is the General thinking?"

Xiao Mohe walked to Huang Fachi's side without knowing when. Many parts of his body were bandaged. He was also seriously injured in this charge.

"Thinking of a way to repel the enemy."

"How is your injury?"

"It's okay, just some minor injuries. I can still pull the bow!"

The two of them looked at the enemy in the distance together. The enemy was frequently maneuvering. Huang Fachi could see that they were preparing for the next fierce attack.

Huang Fate was quite worried.

"We can still hold on here, but I don't know about General Chunyu Liang's situation."

Xiao Mohe hurriedly said: "General Huang, don't worry. Although General Chunyu is old, he is brave and good at fighting, and is not inferior to the northerners."

"I'm not saying that his talent is inferior, it's the people who followed him to Mianyang."

"Many of those people have never fought against the Zhou people. They only serve as generals by relying on the reputation of their fathers and grandfathers. Their greatest military achievements on weekdays are just to eliminate pirates. Now they are fighting against the fierce Zhou people. I am afraid that they will be frightened and bring disaster to General Chunyu Liang."

In the camp just outside of Nanyang to the west, the Emperor of Zhou has already arrived at the battlefield.

Yuwen Yong sat in the chariot and looked at the soldiers around him. He originally wanted to continue forward and reach the city of Nanyang.

But Yuchi Jiong tried to stop him again and again, and even kowtowed several times in a hurry, so Yuwen Yong did not move forward.

Despite this, his arrival still boosted the morale of the soldiers here, and they shouted loudly.

Yuwen Yong looked extremely heroic in his armor.

He got off the carriage and the generals bowed to him one after another. Yuwen Yong helped them up, greeted them one by one, and then went to see a few injured generals and gave them rewards.

After completing a series of procedures, Yuchi Jiong invited him into the general's tent.

When there was no one around, Yuwen Yong asked, "Where is the King of Qi?"

Yuchi Jiong immediately replied: "The King of Qi has gone to Mianyang."

"Oh? Isn't Quan Jingxuan in charge there? Why would he go to Mianyang if he doesn't want to attack Nanyang with you?"

"Your Majesty, Nanyang City is strong and difficult to capture. It was attacked before. The King of Qi thought that we should not attack from both sides at the same time, but should defeat them one by one, so he led his elite troops straight to Mianyang."

Yuwen Yong nodded, his face calm, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

He sat in the upper seat, then looked at the door unhappily, "Come in."

The next moment, Yang Jian and Wei Xiaokuan walked in quickly. Their expressions were completely opposite, one looked very happy and excited, while the other looked lifeless.

Yuwen Yong first looked at Yang Jian with gentle eyes, "This time, Duke Sui has made great contributions to me again. If Duke Sui had not come forward in time, I am afraid that the enemy would have advanced to Xiangyang."

"He is a duke after all. He should not live up to his position."

This is quite harsh.

Wei Xiaokuan stood there and pretended not to hear anything.

Only then did Yuwen Yong look at Wei Xiaokuan.

"Duke Yun, don't you have anything to say?"

Wei Xiaokuan suddenly raised his head, looking quite pitiful due to his old age.

"Your Majesty should not have come."

Wei Xiaokuan suddenly said.

"what?"

Yuwen Yong was stunned.

Wei Xiaokuan murmured, "Liu Taozi."

"Ok?"

"Liu Taozi will attack the rear."

Yuwen Yong laughed angrily.

"is it?"

"Then at least I won't be attacked from behind by Liu Taozi twice in a row, right?"

Wei Xiaokuan opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but his eyes suddenly dimmed and he closed his mouth.

Yuwen Yong looked at him deeply, "Duke Yun, you really disappointed me this time."

"Someone is coming."

Hearing this, Yuchi Jiong couldn't sit still and stood up quickly. Yuwen Yong noticed this and looked at Yuchi Jiong with a smile, "I'm not going to kill you, why are you standing up?"

Yuchi Jiong immediately broke out in a sweat, "Old minister, Your Majesty."

"Duke Yun lost many soldiers and generals, so considering his past military achievements, I dismissed him from his post, but retained his title and allowed him to return to Chang'an to retire."

Wei Xiaokuan was stunned for a moment, then bowed his head, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Yuwen Yong ignored him and turned his head away without looking at him.

A guard came forward and asked Wei Xiaokuan to follow them.

Yuchi Jiong looked at Wei Xiaokuan who was walking away, his eyes confused and he suddenly felt uncomfortable, but he couldn't tell why.

After Wei Xiaokuan left, Yuwen Yong said bitterly: "I should have dismissed Wei Xiaokuan long ago. He always said something different from others to show off his talents, but when it came to the critical moment, he was always useless and was nothing more than a defensive general."

Yuchi Jiong suddenly said, "Your Majesty, what Duke Yun said just now is not without reason."

"The army is currently in the south. If Liu Taozi attacks from the north."

"Don't worry. I left enough troops in Nanxiang to guard against Liu Taozi."

"No, what I mean is, if the enemy moves south from Xiazhou."

"Although I don't know military affairs, I know politics. Han has just occupied so many states. How can it have the ability to occupy more places?"

"Your Majesty, although military affairs and political affairs have something in common, they are not completely similar. Sending troops can not only occupy, but also destroy and plunder. If the enemy robs."

"Don't worry, Yanzhou and other places are guarded by Da Xizhen. He has the style of his father and knows a lot about military affairs. He has a strong city in his hands, so he will never be afraid of Gao Changgong!"

(End of this chapter)