Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 481 Successful Meeting
In Fuling city.

The soldiers cheered loudly, and a joyful atmosphere filled the city and beyond.

Fuling was taken without a fight. The officials in the city surrendered directly. Gao Changgong also disciplined the army strictly and did not allow the soldiers to plunder. He used the spoils he got from the Zhou emperor to reward the army.

The soldiers were extremely excited. This time, they had made a great contribution.

When Gao Changgong walked into the government office with a smile on his face, a meritorious official was already waiting for him.

When the man saw Gao Changgong coming in, he quickly stood up and saluted.

"Your Majesty!"

He quickly realized his mistake and changed his address to "General Wei!!"

Gao Changgong narrowed his eyes and looked at Zheng Daoqian with a smile, "Thanks to your good words, maybe I can be crowned king again with military merit in the future?"

Not to mention that Zheng Daoqian just made a slip of the tongue, even if he scolded him now, Gao Changgong would definitely not be angry.

Who could have thought that Zheng Daoqian, one of the three most trusted ministers around Yang Jian, was actually a spy arranged by the damn Han Kingdom!
As early as when Gao Jiong and others were clever and wanted to split up their troops and escape, Zheng Daoqian secretly informed the rear of the news. When Zu Ting learned about it, he immediately sent a fast cavalryman to Gao Changgong.

Gao Changgong was originally in the direction of Yong'an. After hearing the news, he no longer hesitated and left the army to continue attacking the city. He led the most elite knights to open a road and kill all the way to Fuling, just to stop the enemy there.

After a long march, both sides finally had a "successful meeting" in Fuling.

Although the Zhou people may not have been very eager for this meeting.

Zu Ting did not tell Gao Changgong who his own family members were, but only vaguely said that some of his family members were among the enemy.

When Zheng Daoqian met the knights, he chose to surrender. After being captured, he said he had important matters to discuss with Gao Changgong. After the meeting, he told him the truth.

Gao Changgong asked about the past events, and then he was sure that this person was definitely the one mentioned by his ancestor.

After that, he had more respect for Zheng Daoqian.

If it weren’t for Zheng Daoqian, how could we have captured the Emperor of Zhou this time?

Capturing the emperor, and capturing him alive, is the greatest achievement!
Gao Changgong and Zheng Daoqian were sitting in the house.

"We still haven't found Yang Jian and Yang Su."

"These two are very cunning. There are many mountain roads and dense forests around here. If they get into them, it will be difficult to catch them."

"However, these mountain roads and forest roads are not easy to walk on. Wild beasts are everywhere, and poisonous insects are everywhere. They are not locals. If they go in like this and run for their lives, I'm afraid they won't be able to come out alive."

"Perhaps he has died in the mountains and forests at this moment."

Gao Changgong expressed his judgment, but Zheng Daoqian shook his head.

"will not."

"Oh?"

Zheng Daoqian said seriously: "The general does not understand them, but I have followed Yang Jian for a long time and I know Yang Su quite well."

"Yang Jian seems to be a mediocre person, but he is actually very scheming. When Yuwen Yong went to war, he sent his family to Suizhou ahead of time, which saved them from the war. Then, he took a step ahead of time and sent his family to Shu. To be honest, even I don't know where his family went. I think he made arrangements a long time ago."

"People like him always think of a way out for themselves, and there must be something he didn't tell me. When the general appeared, he walked very fast, but he didn't go back, but went south. He has always been courageous, so it's impossible that he was panicking. It's very likely that he knows the road over there or something else."

"As for Yang Su, he is even more terrifying. Wild beasts are not as ferocious as him, and poisonous insects are not as deadly as him. I think, even if all the wild beasts and poisonous insects in the forest are dead, this guy will not die!"

Judging from Zheng Daoqian's tone, he seemed to still have some complaints against Yang Su.

Gao Changgong did not ask any further questions. He just comforted her by saying, "Don't worry, sir."

"The false Zhou monarch Yuwen Yun has surrendered to me. He wrote down an imperial edict, which I have sent back to various places."

"In this way, the Zhou Kingdom was destroyed."

"As for Yang Jian and Yang Su, even if they were to surrender to Chen, what would it matter in the face of the general trend?"

"The Zhou Dynasty fell, and the trend of the world's unification became increasingly clear. This has not happened in many years."

Gao Changgong was also a little excited at this moment. "I am not going to continue to hunt down these remaining bandits. I will take Yuwen Yun to the north to formally meet the Heavenly King and end the war."

Zheng Daoqian stood up and saluted, "You can go together."

At this moment, on the lush mountain forest road, several people staggered out of the dense forest.

Yang Su licked his lips, put away the knife, reached back and pulled Yang Jian out.

After them, four or five more people followed out one after another.

Now, their number is less than ten.

Yang Jian looked around vigilantly, then heaved a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, before setting out, he had checked the map of this road in the government office. There was a copy of this kind of map in the court and also in the local area.

Every time he entered the city first, he would claim to be chasing rebels, and the first thing he did after entering the city was to collect these useful things.

He used these local maps to leave himself some retreat routes in each place. He knew where to retreat if he encountered an attack in different places, where to find the road, where to find water sources, and so on.

They emerged from the dense forest and began to walk down the mountain. There was a village ahead, where they might be able to find a boat to cross the river.

Yang Su guarded him and moved forward together.

Yang Jian walked ahead breathlessly, suddenly glanced at Yang Su, and asked: "I don't understand, why did the Han army appear there?"

Yang Su laughed, "There is a traitor."

"Before I retreated, I saw Gao Jiong suddenly dismount and kowtow to the Han army. Perhaps he was the traitor."

"Ah."

Yang Jian's face was grim, and it was unclear whether he believed this statement or not.

Yang Su continued, "My lord, we have no other choice but to surrender to the State of Chen. My lord must have made some arrangements in the State of Chen, right?"

"deploy??"

"I don't know."

Yang Su looked around and laughed, "I haven't seen your family since I left Nanyang."

"If I'm not mistaken, after you withdrew from Nanyang, your family must have fled to the State of Chen? There is no war there, and there are many monks who are on good terms with you and can protect them."

Yang Jian did not answer, but asked calmly: "We retreated separately, but you were able to find me again."

"I have the local map. I am the only one among the people who knows these small roads. The other map of the court is in the hands of the Han army."

"Yang Su, how did you find me?"

Yang Jian suddenly stopped and turned to look at the other person.

At this moment, several warriors around drew their swords, and several swords appeared directly on Yang Su's neck.

Yang Su was not afraid, he was not a weak scholar.

He replied calmly, "I saw you retreating southward, so I knew you must be familiar with the road, so I followed you. After chasing you for a long time, we finally met. Do you think I am a spy of the Han army? My family members were killed by them. Besides, if I was really a spy, why would I come to you alone? Why not just lead the Han army to capture you?"

"Chen State."

"In order to infiltrate the State of Chen, continue to leak information."

Yang Su's eyes gradually became fierce.

"I told you long ago that there must be a traitor around you, and I suggested using different command methods to find the person." "But not only did you not listen to me, you also told other people about it."

"The traitor may not be Gao Jiong, but it must be someone close to you. Now that the truth has been revealed, you think I'm a spy?"

"My lord, I will never be a spy."

“How come you see?”

"Shh!"

In the blink of an eye, Yang Su placed the knife in Yang Jian's neck, and then quickly retracted it.

The surrounding warriors were startled and took a few steps back.

"If I had bad intentions, these people would never be my opponents."

"My lord, a real man in this world, if he cannot eat from five tripods while alive, he will be cooked in five tripods after death!"

"Liu Taozi has never forgiven those ministers who have killed many people. Even if I don't care about the family hatred, he will not let me go because of what I did with Dugu Yongye. If I fall into his hands, I will die for sure."

"I intend to follow you, my lord, to the South Country and establish my reputation. If you do not want me to follow you, I will go alone. Why do you have to do this?"

Yang Jian hesitated for a moment and signaled the warriors on his left and right to disperse.

He looked at Yang Su helplessly and sighed.

"Don't blame me for being suspicious. It's just that the Han army suddenly appeared in front of us. This is really unexpected. Even if the Han army knew the news, how could they appear here? Could they fly over here?"

Yang Su smiled and said, "They must be Gao Changgong's army. Gao Changgong is in Yong'an. We only need to open the Linzhou Road and they will appear in front of us."

"Gao Changgong is also very courageous. This road is extremely difficult to travel, and I think there will be many casualties."

Yang Jian asked Yang Su to follow him and walked towards the village in the distance. As he walked, he said, "We must avenge His Majesty. I am going to go to the State of Chen. The Lord of Chen will certainly not refuse, but I am afraid he will not dare to use me. Is there anything you want to teach me?"

"My Lord, how to get close to him is not something I am good at. However, I can offer you a few strategies to help Chen Shouguo. You can tell him when the time comes."

The two chatted all the way, and after walking for about half an hour, they finally arrived at the edge of the small village.

From a distance, it seemed that there were no living people in this small village, it was empty.

The map was made some time ago, and only one out of ten of the villages and post houses recorded on it still exist.

It can also be seen that, in fact, the development of the Zhou State in recent years was not very good. Even when there was no war between Han and Zhou, the population was still decreasing.

They walked carefully to the ferry.

They saw several small boats moored here. Just as they were rushing to board the boats, they suddenly heard a noise coming from a house not far away.

Yang Su took the lead and rushed into the house. A moment later, he was seen dragging a person out of the inner room.

The man was quite old, his clothes were tattered, and he spoke slurredly. Faced with these armed men, he was extremely afraid and begged for mercy repeatedly.

Yang Su pulled his hand, and the knife in his hand almost hit him. He asked: "Do you know where I can get ashore on the other side?"

The old man nodded hastily.

The group boarded three boats, with the old man leading the way, and sailed towards the river.

Sitting in the boat, Yang Su was still telling Yang Jian about his ideas.

After the fall of the Zhou Dynasty, the burden on the State of Chen was heavier than ever. If it wanted to defend its homeland, it could only continue to expand its advantage in the navy, change its previous foundation, and reform to become stronger.
Yang Su listed seventeen strategies to Yang Jian.

These included expanding territory, incorporating barbarians, building ships, connecting rivers, curbing annexation, etc.
In addition to military equipment, there are also things related to domestic affairs.

Yang Su said very seriously: "What Chen Xu lacks most at the moment is talent. When you meet him, you don't have to hide anything. Tell him all your plans to express your sincerity, and then ask to become his children's relatives. Chen Xu likes to listen to others' advice, and most of the time he won't be able to refuse."

They walked on the waterway for a long time, a whole day.

There are mostly cliffs on both sides, and the boat cannot dock, but if you keep going south, you will see a fork in the river. From here, go around the steep cliffs on both sides, you will see a flat area where you can go directly ashore.

Several people got off the boat, and Yang Jian sent people to investigate the surrounding situation.

"Pfft!"

He only heard a noise behind him. When Yang Jian turned around, Yang Su had already chopped off the leader's head. He found that Yang Jian was looking at him. Yang Su just shook his head and said, "We can't reveal our whereabouts at this time. For the favor of crossing the river, if you become prosperous in the future, you can send someone to offer sacrifices."

He said this, but there was still a terrifying smile on his face.

Even Yang Jian felt horrified at this moment.

Gangneung City.

Chunyu Liang raised his sword and ordered his men to open the city gate.

Gao Yanzong suddenly attacked with more than a hundred elite soldiers. The Zhou army, which had already started to climb the city wall, was instantly in chaos. Gao Yanzong shuttled back and forth in their formation. Chunyu Liang took the opportunity to repel the enemies who were climbing the city wall. Gao Yanzong turned back and the city gate was closed again.

Gao Yanzong returned to Chunyu Liang panting and dropped the head in his hand.

"Hahaha, kill him!"

Chunyu Liang nodded and continued to stare at Huang Fachu's army in the distance with a frown.

"Huang Fachu is probably going to attack from the east. General Gao will lead his men to the east immediately. Wait for a while until the enemy is close enough and half of them climb the ladder, then attack fiercely! Pay attention to my flag. If they go in other directions, I will let you know immediately!"

Gao Yanzong did not ask Chunyu Liang how he knew it, nor did he ask why he had to wait. He simply turned around and left.

And things turned out just as Chunyu Liang had expected. Not long after Gao Yanzong arrived at his destination, the Chen people who were trying to clear the battlefield suddenly gathered rapidly in the east and quickly changed the direction of their attack, hoping to take over the city while the number of defenders in the city was small.

Unfortunately, as soon as they charged, they encountered Gao Yanzong who had arrived here earlier. They were hit head-on and fled in a hurry after leaving behind many corpses.

Chunyu Liang quickly raised the flag, and Gao Yanzong led his men away again.

Outside the city, Huang Fachi had a stern face, staring at the city in the distance.

"General Huang, this Gao Yanzong is truly extraordinary! How is it that he can always tell the direction of our main attack?"

"I'm not fighting against Gao Yanzong."

"I am fighting Chun Yuliang."

Huang Fachi answered calmly, and the generals around him suddenly dared not speak.

Huang Fateu closed his eyes in despair as he watched the siege army being repelled once again.

It’s over.

Chunyu Liang was indeed a veteran with rich experience and was particularly familiar with the Chen army. Along the way, he used various methods to delay himself and then assisted in defending the city. He thought of countless ways to lure Gao Yanzong out, but as long as Chunyu Liang was there, Gao Yanzong would not go for it.

But at the critical moment, he would rush out to cause trouble and then retreat after the fight.

Judging from the current situation, Huang Fachi even suspected that Chunyu Liang was the main general.

The command styles of both sides are highly consistent, and they are from the same place, so it is impossible to break their tactics.

As the situation has dragged on until now, Huang Fachi knew that the Zhou Kingdom was probably doomed.

If he fails to capture the city, he will not only have to face Gao Yanzong and Chunyu Liang, but also Wang Lin, Yao Xiong, and even Gao Changgong and others, who may also appear before him.

Huang Fate closed his eyes and pondered for a long time.

"withdraw!!"

ps: I wrote from morning till midnight today and made up for it!!

(End of this chapter)