Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 498 A real man cannot surrender to Hu

The sun was blazing.

The city of Jiankang was quite lively, and the common people had little idea of ​​what was happening outside. Even if they knew, they could only pretend not to know.

It was the busy farming season, and they had no time to stop and think about these things. Everyone was busy working for a living.

Jiankang has always been so lively over the years.

A carriage passed through the street, guarded by warriors in front and behind, and people along the road avoided it.

The carriage traveled for a long time and finally stopped outside the road leading to the imperial city.

Yuan Xian got out of the car.

Although the sun was shining brightly, Yuan Xian still put on a thick coat to cover his entire body. His face was stiff and wooden.

Surrounded by the crowd, he slowly walked towards the palace.

After him, many important officials arrived one after another.

The emperor summoned all his ministers today to announce two pieces of good news.

The State of Chen won every battle against the State of Han. The Jiang navy defeated the fleet of the rebel Ouyang He outside Sheyang and sank many pirate ships.

On land, General Lu Guangda defeated the armies of Yao Xiong, Gao Yanzong, Gao Changgong and others, boarded the ship with his elite main force, and successfully evacuated Jiangbei.

Chen Xu calmly told people about the two victories, "All the meritorious soldiers must be rewarded generously!"

"And those who were responsible for making plans and transporting food and fodder will also be rewarded!"

After hearing these two good news, the important officials were overjoyed.

There was laughter in the hall. Everyone began to feel happy about Chen's victory over Han and applauded and cheered.

Yuan Xian sat alone in the upper seat.

He picked up the wine cup in front of him and drank it gently.

His head hurts.

Those smiles became hideous in his eyes, and the laughter became more and more harsh and uncomfortable.

Everyone was laughing loudly and talking about the upcoming rewards, but Yuan Xian seemed to be living in another world and could no longer hear what they were saying.

Chen Xu regretted the Jiangbei matter very much after he finished it.

But he only regretted it for half a day. After that half a day, Chen Xu regained his composure and actively appeased everyone, trying to reduce the impact.

After Huang Fachi's death, the Han army launched a three-pronged attack on Jiangbei. The Jiangbei defense line had been lost, and Lu Guangda had escaped. Things had come to this point, and if there was chaos in the country again, then it would really be the end of the country.

But the ministers were really happy.

First of all, they don’t care about Jiangbei.

They didn't even recognize Jiangbei as the real Chen Kingdom, because Jiangbei was taken over later and there were no big families from the Chen Kingdom here. They felt that this place had been led astray by barbarians and was no longer the authentic southern land.

When Huang Fachi was actively building up defenses, they advocated abandoning expenditures in the north of the Yangtze River and focusing on defending the river.

Although they knew nothing about military affairs, they had their own ideas. The Chen army could not defeat the Han, and the Han could directly attack Jiangbei from land. Therefore, no matter how much investment was made in Jiangbei, it would be in vain and would be occupied by the Han people sooner or later. Therefore, governance and investment were useless.

The only advantage of the State of Chen is its navy, so wouldn't it be better to decisively give up the territory on the other side of the river and just defend the river?
Previously, when the ministers made such a report for the first time, Huang Fachi was shocked.

He hurriedly informed the emperor that Jiangbei could not be abandoned, as there were a large population, food, and even horse farms.
Although the ministers had no idea about Jiangbei, they still had their own understanding. They thought, wouldn't it be better to move these things to their side?

As for Huang Fachi's stories about battle lines, dangerous intersections, key ferry crossings, etc., they thought that Huang Fachi had made them up himself to cheat the imperial court out of money.

Huang Fachi had previously spent a lot of money to set up defenses in Jiangbei, and he did not like to rob the people, so the local area was in a state of deficit.

Everyone has opinions about him, his proposals, and his strategies.

The current situation is not a big deal for the ministers. The loss of Jiangbei is lost, but the death of Huang Fachi is what is important.

Now, no one will dare to go against them and support the emperor's new policies, right?
As expected, Chen Xu's relationship with his ministers became much closer.

Chen Xu was no longer as aggressive as he had been in the past, and even took the initiative to appease several ministers who had been punished by him.

They were having a great time and getting along very well.

The big families don't care about the country, they only care about their own clan and family background. The emperor is the largest big family. Most of the emperors don't care about the country, and they don't care much about their clans. They care about the position under their butts. Even if the country is going to perish tomorrow, before it perishes, it must be his feudal rotten butt sitting on the dragon throne.

"Yuan Qing."

"Yuan Qing?"

Chen Xu asked twice in a row before Yuan Xian reacted, looked at the emperor, and bowed his head.

"I am sorry."

Neither Chen Xu nor the other ministers pursued Yuan Xian's serious crime of indiscretion in front of the palace. Chen Xu ordered, "You will be responsible for welcoming the victorious navy commanders and General Lu and others."

"only."

After explaining everything, the ministers could leave.

Yuan Xian did not actively harass the emperor as he had done before. He just turned around and left without any attachment.

As for the fact that he had guaranteed Huang Fachi in the past, everyone could only choose to forget it.

When the ministers walked out of the palace, they still had smiles on their faces.

General Jiang looked at the high officials around him and said with a smile: "When Huang Fachu was still here, we were defeated by the Han people many times. Now that Huang Fachu is gone, we are still able to win. This shows that Huang Fachu is a man of no ability."

The ministers had long been dissatisfied with this man, and Kong Fan immediately said, "Mr. Jiang is right!"

"I said at the beginning that Huang Fachu had been defeated by the Northern Hu too many times and had lost his courage. He actually dared to say that he would share the people's money to resist the enemy. Ministers should put the people first. We are fighting against the Northern Hu to protect the people in our territory. How can we do such a thing that loses sight of the main goal?"

"What Mr. Kong said is exactly what I want!"

Another moral gentleman spoke eloquently, "My nephew participated in this naval battle. He wrote to me and said: The northerners' boats were small and old."

"Their full fleet consisted of less than ten warships, and they were all old and dilapidated small boats. The soldiers were also unfamiliar with the art of fighting on ships. Chunyu Liang led the northerners' warships and was chased by them. He could only hide at the ferry and dared not come out."

"We have the natural defenses of the river, and our navy is a hundred times more powerful than the northern barbarians!"

"The Northern Hu are good at plundering, but they are not good at governing."

"No matter how vast the land is, it doesn't matter. They just can't build warships. The northern barbarians are long and clumsy, and they can't swim!"

"You want to cross the river? Wishful thinking! Even if we give the Northern Barbarians another hundred years, they will never be able to cross the river!"

"it is good!!"

The ministers were extremely excited at this moment.

He got rid of Huang Fachu, cleaned up those people in the country who were in the way, reached a reconciliation with the emperor, and once again consolidated his own interests.

These are all things worth celebrating. At the same time, this battle also made them see the flaws of the Northern Hu.

The infantry and cavalry are indeed very powerful, but as for the navy... As long as the war horses of the Northern Hu have not grown wings, there is no need to worry about these people.

The Han Kingdom's powerful destruction of the Zhou Kingdom had put a lot of pressure on these people. Now, they finally breathed a sigh of relief. Yuan Xian did not join in anyone's chat, got on the carriage alone, and then left.

On this day, all the ministers in the country gathered in Jiang Zong's house and held a banquet to celebrate. At the banquet, everyone drank and wrote poetry, and they were very happy.

At the same time, while these people were drinking, having fun, reciting poems and singing, the army of Chen State was lying on the bumpy boat, exhausted.

Lu Guangda was caught up by Ren Zhong. Lu Guangda was no match for Ren Zhong, so he had to abandon some of his people again and then fled on the boat. Under the protection of his own powerful navy, he escaped from Jiangbei.

The morale of the army was terribly low.

The generals on each warship did not dare to be negligent and stared at their own soldiers. They even dared not let the soldiers communicate with each other.

The State of Chen lost a large amount of land, a large population, elite infantry, stored war horses, cavalry, and important ferry crossings.

Huang Fachi's Yangtze River security network cannot exist only on one bank.

This was originally a network of defense lines superimposed on both sides of the river, but now, with the fall of Jiangbei, the network was torn apart and many gaps appeared. Huang Fachi had previously built many watchtowers and beacon towers in Jiangbei and reinforced the ferry crossings. These things that were used to fight against the Han army now became weapons for the Han army to fight against the Chen army.

The river was surging and the warship was shaking constantly.

The soldiers from Jiangbei lay uneasily on the boat, looking back at their hometown from time to time.

They boarded the warship, only to find that they had left their hometown and might never return.

The wounded soldiers cried out in pain, but the military doctors were not enough, and many times they could only watch the soldiers die in agony.

Lu Guangda stood at the bow with a nervous look on his face. Even though he was on board, he knew that the enemy could not catch up with him. But Lu Guangda was still very nervous. He was worried that a mutiny would occur.

It was not until the army coming to support him appeared in front of him that Lu Guangda finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Many large ships appeared from all directions, surrounding the returning warships in the middle. A giant ship slowly approached the warship where Lu Guangda was. Both slowed down, and then they connected to each other with wooden boards. Soon, General Zhou Luohou appeared in front of Lu Guangda.

Zhou Luohou was a very young general.

He was from Xunyang, Jiujiang. When he was fifteen, he liked flying eagles and fighting dogs, wearing nice clothes, and doing evil things with a group of knights, which was very much in line with the ancient style. Later, he was valued by Chen Xu for his bravery and was promoted. He was one of the few generals in the country who was directly promoted by Chen Xu.

He has a very good relationship with Xiao Mohe, is good at charging into battle, and is the bravest among the three armies.

When Ouyang He was defeated in the previous battle, he met this young general. He was only in his thirties this year and had restrained himself a lot compared to when he was young, but compared to other generals, he still seemed very sharp and strong.

"Meet General Lu!"

Zhou Luohou bowed to greet him. Lu Guangda breathed a sigh of relief and forced a smile. "It turned out to be General Zhou. I heard that General Zhou has made great contributions and gained a lot. He is really brave!"

"Don't dare take it!"

Zhou Luohou spoke in a loud voice. He looked around and asked, "Where is General Xiao?"

Lu Guangda's relaxed expression tensed up again. He was silent for a moment, and then whispered, "General Xiao has been captured by the enemy."

"What did you say?!"

Zhou Luohou's voice couldn't help but become much louder.

"Impossible! General Xiao wants to leave, how can the enemy stop him?!"

"General Lu, I heard someone say that the court felt that General Xiao was too close to General Huang, so they instructed you to get rid of him. Is this true?"

Lu Guangda and Zhou Luohou looked at each other and said, "No."

Zhou Luohou probably realized that his questioning was a bit too radical. He sighed and asked again, "Did General Xiao surrender to the enemy?"

This time, Lu Guangda did not answer him directly. He just looked at the river and whispered, "He did not attack me. He set up a false force to block the enemy. He has family in the south. He did not surrender to the enemy and was captured."

This time, Zhou Luohou understood what Lu Guangda meant.

His hostile eyes dimmed for a moment, and then he stood side by side with Lu Guangda, and the two of them looked into the distance together.

At this time, Lu Guangda slowly said: "General Zhou, the northern Hu are very cruel."

"Ok?"

"The current Liu Taozi is a heroic leader, but there have been heroic leaders among the northern Hu people in the past, but that is not important. His generals are Hu people, his ministers are Hu people, do you know how the Han people in the north lived in the past?"

"Since the Hu people entered the pass, they have been killing people wantonly and for no reason. Sometimes, they just get upset and ride out to kill people. Whether it is the Hu Wei, Hu Qi, or Hu Zhou, they are all like this. They kill indiscriminately and humiliate at will. The people are always in fear. They dare not see anyone on the road, for fear that they will meet a Hu person and be killed for no reason."

"Is Gao Huan, the chief of Hu Qi, considered wise? But he actually publicly supported the idea of ​​a one-coin Han, that if a Han person is killed, only one coin needs to be paid as compensation."

"His descendants were even more brutal, killing people day and night. Gao Yang enslaved hundreds of thousands of Han people to build temples, pagodas and palaces for him, forcing them to do corvée for years. Han ministers like Yang Yin tried to dissuade him, but he nearly buried them alive."

"The Northern Hu made their fortunes in this way, and it will continue to be this way in the future. Liu Taozi's country is only called Han, but look at the generals under his command, which one of them is not a cruel and bloodthirsty Hu? Hulugu is a Gaoche, Yao Xiong is a Di, Gao Changgong is a Xianbei, and even Liu Taozi himself is either a Xiongnu or a Xianbei, and is definitely not from the Han Dynasty. Only Wang Lin, who ran over from the south, is a Han."

"Liu Taozi will die, but these barbarians will grow stronger. One day, the people in the north will become moneybags, enslaved, and killed."

Lu Guangda spoke faster and faster, and he said seriously: "I don't know what your relationship with General Xiao is, nor do I know what your relationship with General Huang is. I respect General Huang very much. My brother used to have an old relationship with him. However, for the sake of my country, I can do things that I am reluctant to do."

"This time, I was careless and lost Jiangbei. After returning, I am willing to accept the punishment. However, General Zhou, please do not think of surrendering to the enemy. A real man must never surrender to the Hu."

Zhou Luohou fell silent and did not answer Lu Guangda.

When the warships of the State of Chen began to dock at the ferry, Yuan Xian led his men to greet them.

Many officials came with him, and they expressed great respect for the triumphant soldiers. This was rare in the south. After all, the famous scholars were busy serving and exploiting the common people on weekdays and rarely came to reward the army.

Lu Guangda was treated like a hero here, but even so, there was not a trace of joy on Lu Guangda's face.

As for Xu Jingcheng, he simply refused to meet them.

Zhou Luohou was lucky enough to accept the kindness of these people. Facing this general who had just defeated the enemy, and considering that Zhou Luohou was not from the lower class, most people knew in their hearts who should be responsible for the future military deployment.

Yuan Xian was as usual, lukewarm and didn't talk much.

After receiving the reward, several important generals went to see Chen Xu again.

Chen Xu valued these generals very much, especially Zhou Luohou, and gave them many rewards. He also asked about the situation of the Han navy.

Upon learning that Zhou Luohou had been chasing Chunyu Liang on the river and beating him so hard that Chunyu Liang lost many soldiers and generals and dared not raise his head, Chen Xu was overjoyed, feeling as if he had vented his anger. Naturally, Zhou Luohou received many rewards.

Suddenly, nursery rhymes disappeared from all over the place, and local criticisms also disappeared.

Chen Xu sent these people away, and then he summoned a general who had been hidden for a long time, Yang Jian.

Yuan Xian did not follow the emperor as closely as he had in the past, and no longer expressed opposition to many of his actions.

Yang Jian met the emperor again.

For Chen Xu, the current domestic situation was somewhat unbalanced. He had done a lot of things with Huang Fachi before, but the results of these things had not yet been seen, but the bad consequences had already appeared, and a sense of opposition had already emerged between him and the domestic ministers.

Many of the generals in the country today have no experience in major wars, have never led an army of more than 10,000 people, and are quite immature in terms of strategy and other aspects.

Chen Xu wanted to use Yang Jian, but was still unwilling to give him military power. What Yuan Xian had said before was too destructive. Even if there was no one available, Chen Xu would not let Yang Jian lead the troops.

But it's always possible to offer suggestions, right?
The victory in the naval battle also helped Chen Xu regain some confidence.

Judging from the last battle, the Han navy would not be able to threaten its own army for at least ten years.

(End of this chapter)