Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2150 The Demise of Zhenbei, the Regret of Changping

The first month of the fourth year of the Yuan Shi era.

For the Great Han, it was an extremely peaceful month.

However, this was not the case for Tuoba Gui.

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, amidst heavy snow, Tuoba Gui braved the snow to launch an attack, striking directly at the heart of the enemy and launching a surprise attack on the Zhenbei Army.

In this battle, Tuoba Gui officially annihilated the remnants of the Zhenbei Army and brought the entire Shanyin region under his control.

Tuoba Gui's victory in the battle, annihilating the remnants of the Zhenbei Army, owes much to the general Shi Jingtang.

If Shi Jingtang hadn't defected to the enemy, even with his immense abilities, Tuoba Gui would never have been able to directly attack the enemy's capital.

Tuoba Longxiang, the top expert of the Tuoba tribe, had not participated in the Shanyin battlefield before, but he appeared on the Shanyin battlefield in this battle as well.

Even more remarkably, Mulancha, the top archer of the Northern Barbarians, appeared alongside them.

For the sake of the Zhenbei Lie family, Tuoba Changping felt that he had already wasted too much time here, which is why he gave Tuoba Gui such great support this time.

In the early stages, Tuoba Changping adopted a conciliatory approach for the long term, but unfortunately, the other party turned out to be stubborn.

Fortunately, not everyone under him was stubborn; therefore, there were still quite a few like Lie Zhenkun.

Therefore, Tuoba Changping had no choice but to replace Lie Feiyang with Lie Zhenkun, and bestow upon him the title of Duke of the County, as a role model for the people of Cang.

This price is vastly different from Lie Feiyang's. The price Tuoba Changping quoted Lie Feiyang was that of a king of a different surname, and moreover, a king of a different surname with independent military power.

However, Lie Zhenkun only held the title of Duke of a County, and he did not have independent military power.

This title of Duke was given in recognition of the Jubei Pass and the 30,000 troops that Lie Zhenkun surrendered when he did.

As for Lie Zhenkun's personal value, Lie Feiyang cannot compare.

Lie Feiyang is the most legitimate direct descendant of the Zhenbei Lie clan. As the General of Zhenbei, his influence is far greater than that of Lie Zhenkun, a member of a collateral branch.

He was only able to obtain the title of Duke because he was to be promoted as an example. After all, since they couldn't get Lie Feiyang, that stubborn brat, they had to settle for second best.

The title of Duke of a Commandery is already quite high in the Tuoba tribe.

The Tuoba tribe referenced the Golden Horde's system of nobility, and the Golden Horde, formerly the Northern Di Dynasty, shared similarities with the Central Plains in its system of nobility.

The Tuoba tribe's nobility system consisted of eight ranks, from highest to lowest: King, Prince, Duke, Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron.

After the appeasement plan failed, Lie Zhenkun was brought forward again. After trying to win over as many people as possible from Shanyin, Tuoba Changping officially began military action against Lie Feiyang of the Zhenbei Army when the war in Henan entered its later stages.

However, firstly, due to the early harassment by the Golden Horde, the Tuoba tribe did not actually invest much power in the early stages.

After the Battle of Henan in the Great Han Dynasty ended, the Golden Horde began to gradually cease hostilities with the Tuoba tribes and shifted their attention more to the west.

Secondly, Shanyin is the old stronghold of the Lie clan, deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, which allows for the maximum mobilization of Shanyin's human and material resources.

Therefore, even though Tuoba Changping increased his support for Tuoba Gui later on, the war, which began at the beginning of last year, still lasted until the beginning of this year.

Moreover, this was under the circumstances that traitors such as Gongsun Shu, Shi Jingtang, and even Gongsun Zan had emerged in Zhenbei.

It was precisely because the matter had dragged on for too long with the Zhenbei Lie clan that Tuoba Changping even dispatched Tuoba Longxiang and Mulan Cha to Tuoba Gui's side.

When the Tuoba tribe was trying to win over Mulancha, they promised not to let Mulancha participate in the conflict between the Luandi and Subon tribes. However, the Zhenbeilie clan was naturally excluded from this agreement.

In this battle, Tuoba Longxiang's three blows directly killed Lieshan, the fiercest general in Zhenbei, and also seriously injured the old general Xu Xingdao who had taken office.

At this point, Xu Xingdao was too old, so old that his strength had dropped below the Heavenly level. But when life and death were at stake, he still took up his spear and went into battle.

Unfortunately, Tuoba Longxiang's strike was merely a casual one, and he didn't even put in a third of his strength.

After all, how much strength a person has doesn't mean they can unleash it 100%; it has a lot to do with their stance when they attack.

This move was a temporary counterattack by Tuoba Longxiang after killing Lieshan, in response to Xu Xingdao's sneak attack. It was merely an upward slash from below, and it was a close-range, casual strike, so naturally he couldn't exert his full strength.

However, even so, he was still seriously injured by the blow.

However, after casually injuring the old general, Tuoba Longxiang did not bother to kill him.

These two were not from the same era. Tuoba Longxiang had never seen or known this man before. An old man who could survive a single blow from his staff was not worth Tuoba Longxiang's effort to strike again.

However, the old general still did not survive.

He was already seriously injured, and after being captured, he did not receive proper medical treatment, so his life was naturally in danger.

Unfortunately, the old general was loyal and upright throughout his life, but his adopted son, Xu Beimiao, was ultimately burdened by his affections for his children and became a surrendered general.

For Xu Beimiao, there was too much helplessness. Although he broke through the encirclement, Xu Ruobing did not.

For Xu Ruobing's sake, he had no choice but to betray the enemy after he had already broken through the encirclement. He even sold out Xiao Chen, who was also injured while breaking through the encirclement.

The pitiful Zhenbei general Xiao Chen Xiao Huiqing, relying on his sharp throwing knife skills, barely escaped from Mulan Cha's arrows, but was betrayed by his own people and ultimately fell into the hands of the Northern Di.

Xiao Chen was able to break through in that battle with Xiao Huiqing not only because of his own strength, but also largely because Tuoba Longxiang and Mulan Cha had set their sights on Lie Feiyang.

Even though Lie Feiyang acted like a stubborn fool, Tuoba Changping still treated him like his first love.

Tuoba Changping still highly valued the influence of the Zhenbei Lie clan, represented by Lie Feiyang, within Dacang. Therefore, he specifically instructed Tuoba Gui and Tuoba Longxiang to capture Lie Feiyang alive if possible. For Tuoba Changping, killing was always the easiest means; winning over the heart was the difficult one.

If we use the simplest methods now, it will cause trouble later. If we use more difficult methods now, it will be much easier later.

Therefore, in order to win over the hearts of the people, after Gongsun Shu presented Lie Feiyan to Tuoba Changping, he did not hesitate to take Lie Feiyan as a concubine, wanting to win over the hearts of the people in the region by taking one person as a concubine.

Similarly, in order to win over the hearts of the people, even at this time, he still wanted to capture Lie Feiyang alive and recruit him to his own cause.

Yes, even at this point, he still hasn't given up on this person.

Besides Lie Feiyang, General Lie Yuansheng, Zhou Dewei, Zhou Debiao, and strategist Tie Zhongyang were all captured.

Of course, many more died in battle. Besides Lieshan, countless generals such as Liejiang, Liebei Kuang, and Wang Cang all perished.

There was also Pei Zhi, a high-ranking official in charge of the Northern Garrison. After being captured and brought before Tuoba Changping, Pei Zhi spat in Tuoba Changping's face in front of him, and then died by striking his head against a pillar.

Tuoba Changping held Pei Zhi in extremely high regard, second only to Lie Feiyang. This man had been the governor of Zhenbei since Lie Qiankun's time, and the benefits of winning him over were self-evident.

Lie Feiyang, that stubborn brat, couldn't be in a hurry. However, the moment these prisoners were sent to the Northern Barbarians, Tuoba Changping couldn't wait to meet Pei Zhi.

Pei Zhi was unlucky, really. He was captured by the Han Dynasty when he was in Shanyang Road, but was later exchanged for prisoners.

Unfortunately, it fell into the hands of the Northern Di once again.

He had vowed never to surrender when he was in the hands of the Han Dynasty, and now that he had come to the Northern Barbarians, he died a tragic death, sacrificing his life to uphold his principles.

Pei Zhi's reaction was tragic, but the others' expressions were far from pleasant. Anyone would be upset to see their leader being spat on in front of them.

However, Tuoba Changping himself was unperturbed and did not seem bothered by the spit on the ground. Instead, he was deeply saddened and ordered that Pei Zhi's body be collected. Furthermore, he later ordered that Pei Zhi be given a proper burial in the name of Cang Chen.

Tuoba Changping loved and valued talent, and he especially valued people with integrity.

Therefore, even if the other party is an enemy, even if the other party has offended him, he will still give the other party the courtesy he deserves.

So what if I was spat on?

If someone like that were willing to surrender, he wouldn't care if you spat on him ten times.

Pei Zhi, a man of such loyalty, integrity, talent, and ability, died by striking his head against a pillar, which was a great regret for Tuoba Changping.

Had he known this would happen, even if Pei Zhi refused to surrender, as long as this man didn't oppose him, Tuoba Changping wouldn't have minded sparing his life. At most, he would just find a place to keep him and have a few people watch over him.

As a result of this incident, Tuoba Changping had to make preparations in advance when recruiting captured enemy talents in the future to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

"Ding! Tuoba Changping has completed the achievement 'Spit on the face and dry the water'. The current reward is two random permanent attribute points: Intelligence +1 and Politics +1."

Currently, Tuoba Changping's attributes have been permanently increased to Command 95, Strength 95, Intelligence 99 (+1), Politics 103 (+1), and Charisma 100.

The two native rulers of the Northern Di were Tuoba Changping, who was a big and burly man with the appearance of a rugged grassland man. From the outside, he looked like a tall and brave military general. However, his real strength lay in his civil administration.

The Tuoba tribe rose from weakness to its current state, building upon the achievements of six generations. In his generation, they have produced the seventh enlightened ruler.

On the contrary, Helian Xuan of the Golden Horde, who looks like a weak scholar, is actually more skilled in martial arts and strategy in the original historical trajectory, and has personally led many expeditions.

Within the Golden Horde, Helian Xuan may not be the most skilled fighter, but he is definitely one of the most skilled.

Wang Yu had already triggered the achievement of "turning the other cheek" more than a year ago, so Tuoba Changping, who triggered it for the second time, received fewer rewards.

The most regrettable thing is that in the brutal war of the past year or so, the once mighty Flaming Tiger and Leopard Cavalry has been reduced from its peak of 15,000 riders to only 3,000 or 4,000 riders.

In fact, if Lie Feiyang hadn't been captured alive, and Tuoba Gui had pushed out the already unconscious Lie Feiyang as a threat, even the remaining three or four thousand cavalry would have fought to the death.

Legendary units like the Flaming Tiger and Fierce Leopard Cavalry have an unquestionable fighting spirit.

Like the Champions and Black Riders, the Flaming Tiger Leopard Cavalry has been tempered by history, and honor is etched into their very bones, along with their loyalty to the Lie Clan.

In units like these, steeped in history, loyalty is instilled in the inmates from the moment they enter the camp through various means.

After this battle, Tuoba Gui was granted the title of king for his merits. With Tuoba Gui as the leader, and Cangren Gongsun Shu, Lie Zhenkun, and Zhang Gun, an important minister of the Tuoba tribe, as his right-hand men, they were stationed in the Shanyin area.

"Ding! When Tuoba Gui's martial arts skill is activated, upon becoming king, three random attributes will be permanently increased by 1; upon becoming emperor, four random attributes will be permanently increased by 1."

Tuoba Gui's Command +1, Strength +1, Intelligence +1. Current attributes increased to Command 100, Strength 98, Intelligence 96, Politics 97, Charisma 90.

Tuoba Gui's implanted identity was that of Tuoba Changping's direct uncle and the younger brother of the former leader of the Tuoba tribe. Within the entire Tuoba tribe, his status was already extremely noble, and he was granted the title of Prince from birth.

Now, having accomplished the great feat of conquering Shanyin and capturing Lie Feiyang and his group alive, he has fulfilled the task assigned to him by Tuoba Changping to the fullest extent, and it is only natural that he be granted the title of king.

Given his status and position, no one objected to him taking charge of the newly acquired Shanyin region.

In addition to arranging for Tuoba Gui to be stationed in Shanyin, Tuoba Changping also established a literary academy in Shanyin and introduced a self-recommendation system and an examination system, intending to recruit talents from the Central Plains.

The self-recommendation system allows others to recommend themselves. As long as you believe you have a certain talent and are confident enough to pass the examination of the literary academy, you can recommend yourself for an official position.

As for the examiner system, it complements the self-recommendation system. After self-recommendation, how can we ensure that the candidate has real talent and knowledge, and not just theoretical knowledge?

It's very simple. Besides passing the assessment by presenting yourself, you also need practical application skills.

Under the trial official system, those who want to become officials are first given an official position, and then they are allowed to actually serve as officials and make achievements before being officially appointed. This way, their true abilities can be tested, and it can also be seen what kind of positions are more suitable for capable people.

Of course, if you perform exceptionally well in the Literature Museum's assessment and are confident enough in your own abilities, you can undergo a second assessment. If you pass, you can use the fast track to get the opportunity to meet Tuoba Changping and directly showcase your talents in front of the top leader.