Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 155 Khan Sword

Taozi had just finished speaking.

Then I saw the Huaishuo city gate being slowly pushed open.

Liu Taozi raised his hand and signaled his subordinates to lay down their weapons.

A moment later, a group of garrison commanders were seen pushing the tied-up Lou Dazhi towards here.

Looking at Lou Dazhi who was tied up, Heba Cheng breathed a sigh of relief. The Wuchuan soldiers were very proud. They looked up and there was light in their eyes when they looked at each other.

Yao Xiong looked at Tu Xiyue standing aside and asked in a low voice, "Why did they arrest another deputy? Where is the principal?"

Tu Xiyue also lowered his voice, "Usually it's the deputy who's in charge, there's no regular position, regular positions are mostly appointed during wartime."

Yao Xiong nodded, suddenly realizing.

The group pushed Lou Dazhi all the way to Heba Cheng, and pushed Lou Dazhi to the ground. They saluted Heba Cheng and said, "Greetings, General Zhen!!"

Heba Cheng was relieved. He quickly got off his horse, walked up to a few people, and helped them up. "No need to do this. I just came to capture Lou Dazhi. It has nothing to do with you!"

"Thank you, General!!"

Everyone thanked him one after another.

Heba Cheng smiled back at them, then slowly walked up to Lou Dazhi. He lowered his head, his eyes full of ferocity.

"Lou Dazhi, now, what else do you have to say?!"

Lou Dazhi slowly raised his head. The patterns on his face made Heba Cheng feel a little uncomfortable. Lou Dazhi sneered, "I was harmed by a villain, General. Just because I failed to participate in that important military event on time, are you going to kill me?"

"I have made many contributions."

"Every time I kill someone, I put a mark on his face."

"The marks on my body are the people I have killed in my life! Forty-seven!!"

Lou Dazhi became furious and struggled to get up. His ferocious look frightened Heba Cheng so much that he took several steps back.

Yao Xiong listened to Lou Dazhi's words, and suddenly turned to look at Liu Taozi who had an expressionless face.

"puff."

He couldn't help but chuckle.

Heba Cheng frowned, "No matter how many merits you have made, if you disobey military orders, you will be sentenced to death and cannot be used to offset it!!"

Lou Dazhi laughed out loud, "Okay, it's a capital crime. Although I'm not too close to the Empress Dowager, I'm still related. You're still a royal relative. You're not Gao, and you're not Lou. You're just a second-class Xianbei. What qualifications do you have to kill me? If you want to kill me, then go get the imperial edict from the Zongzhengfu!!"

Heba Cheng said nothing.

Lou Dazhi turned his head and looked at the people behind him, "Wait for me, wait for me, I won't let any of you go, Yan Niang, you bitch, I will kill you."

"Swish"

The sound of swords being drawn slowly rang out.

Lou Dazhi looked in that direction vigilantly.

No one knew when, but Liu Taozi had already stood in front of Lou Dazhi and slowly drew out his sword.

Lou Dazhi was about to say something when he saw the sword in his hand.

At this moment, he was stunned and motionless.

It was not until the sword was slowly raised by its owner that Lou Dazhi reacted, "Lord Dugu!! Lord Dugu!! Don't do it!! Don't do it!"

"We are close, yes, I am close. My last name is Lou, and this sword belongs to General Lou, right? It was given to him by the Khan Shenwu. General Lou and I are related! General Lou and I are related."

"Pfft."

Hua Ting sword fell.

A head flew out, its lips constantly moving, as if saying something, and rolled all the way to Heba Cheng's feet.

The headless corpse shook for a moment, then fell down spurting blood.

Everyone in Huaishuo was staring at the sword at this moment.

"Khan Sword"

"It's the Khan's sword"

In a moment, they all knelt down, their eyes wild.

This is much more exciting than the people in Wuchuan.

Liu Taozi picked up the head from the ground, raised it and looked at Heba Cheng, "General, Lou Dazhi has been executed according to military law."

Heba Cheng was stunned for a moment and nodded blankly.

Liu Taozi then looked at the people in front of him and said, "You have captured the rebels and deserve a reward."

“Who deserves the credit?”

Everyone looked at one of them. That man was tall and rough in appearance. He was staring at Liu Taozi, which was very rude.

No one answered, Heba Cheng cleared his throat and said, "This is General Hu Fen, the commander of Wuchuan."

"Meet General Hu Fen!"

The rough man also reacted quickly and bowed.

Liu Taozi asked, "You are the first to do this?"

"Ah, no, no, it should be Yan Niang."

Then a person walked out of the crowd. It was a woman. A burst of laughter suddenly came from Wuchuan. The woman frowned and saluted Liu Taozi. "Greetings to General Hufen. I dare not take credit for it. The Huaishuo soldiers are loyal and have never had two minds. It is my duty to capture the rebels. I will not accept the reward!!"

The other people also nodded, "General, we don't want any reward!!"

Liu Taozi didn't say anything else. He looked at Yao Xiong and said, "Xiong, take the people back."

"Liu, Zili, the two of you take some people to stay here."

"General, let's go in first."

Heba Cheng nodded, then followed Liu Taozi and others to Huaishuo, and everyone followed him.

The people of Wuchuan were overjoyed at this moment. They followed the general to Huaishuo and forced the other side to hand over their commander. They were so happy that they almost felt great. Liu Chengcai grabbed Yao Xiong and said, "Mr. Yao, the people of Huaishuo are always treacherous. Should we leave more people to keep an eye on them?"

Yao Xiong waved his hand casually, "Brother, do you still need us to send someone to protect you? He alone is enough! Let's go! Let's go!!"

The Wuchuan soldiers raised their heads, shouted, made up lyrics using all kinds of obscene words, and turned away with a swagger. Although they did not rob anything, they were now more excited than when they robbed the Xi people.

The people in Huaishuo watched Wuchuan soldiers leave with resentment.

"Damn it, if it weren't for General Zhen, how could we bow to these people?!"

"Big Head, you. Big Head? What's wrong with you?"

Liu Datou came back to his senses. He looked at Liu Taozi riding his horse into the city from a distance, and then looked at the people around him, "Don't you think that young general holding the Khan's sword looks like someone?"

"Ah? Who does he look like?"

"Like Brother Tao!"

"Brother Tao? Damn."

Someone patted him on the shoulder and said, "Big Head, don't tell me that everyone you see looks like your brother. Hey, Brother Tao married a daughter of a wealthy family in the Central Plains, but he has long forgotten us, and you are still thinking about us."

"Brother Tao is not as good-looking as this general. Besides, you have heard that his surname is Dugu, and he is a real Chinese. Your family can only be considered half Chinese! Don't try to make friends with him!"

Liu Datou shook his head, "No, they really are alike, you don't know. Oh, forget it."

As they talked and walked, Liu Datou suddenly looked at Yan Niang who was standing beside him and said, "Yan Niang, you should go back first. Don't get involved in other matters. Go back and take good care of your father-in-law. I will visit him another day."

"Okay, thank you Uncle Liu."

Yan Niang bowed and turned to leave.

The group arrived at the government office. The government office in Huaishuo was different from that in Wuchuan. It was neat and clean. Perhaps because distinguished people often came here, they did not dare to make it dirty like in Wuchuan.

Heba Cheng sat in the upper seat and Liu Taozi sat beside him.

Many garrison commanders, officers, and military officials in Huaishuo sat on both sides.

Heba Cheng said something casually to try to get closer to them. When he finished speaking, Liu Taozi said, "Now, send someone to take Lou Dazhi's head and send a message to all the places, telling them to come to Huaishuo to discuss military matters."

"If you don't come, this will be the outcome!!"

"only!!"

Tian Zilie accepted the military order and left in a hurry.

The people of Huaishuo looked at Liu Taozi with some fear. They felt that compared with the General Zhen, this General Hu was much more terrifying.

He even had the Khan sword in his hand.

Liu Taozi looked at the others and said, "You have nothing better to do than to bring the corvée laborers to the Le Temple to assign corvée labor here. Is it just for your amusement?!"

Everyone was silent and didn't dare to answer.

Obviously this is Huaishuo, and Liu Taozi and his group only brought a few people here, and they are usually very unruly. But now, they just lowered their heads and let Liu Taozi scold them.

"From today on, everyone must be ready for the battle. No pleasure or laziness allowed."

"I will temporarily take charge of Huaishuo and supervise the training."

Everyone stood up hurriedly and said yes.

Heba Cheng also smiled and said: "This expedition is also a great opportunity for you all."

The entire Huaishuo has changed because of the arrival of these people.

The knights inside and outside the city began training, galloping on horseback, honing their archery and martial arts.

There were straw men placed on both sides. The knights rode past on horseback, and in a moment, the straw men were filled with arrows.

They dismounted again and fought each other, first with wooden swords, which raised dust and broke the swords.

With bare hands, they punched each other and wrestled and tumbled.

The scene was extremely lively.

Liu Taozi and Heba Cheng stood aside and watched them practice.

A man walked up to Liu Taozi with a smile, nodding and bowing, but with a smug look in his eyes, "General, how is it? Is this your first time seeing such an army?"

Liu Taozi looked calm, "It needs practice."

The smile on the man's face froze immediately, and he said with some displeasure: "Does Wuchuan have such elite troops? General, why don't you let the Wuchuan elite troops around you fight with us to see who is more capable?"

Several Wuchuan soldiers gathered at the rear were furious and were about to roll up their sleeves.

Liu Taozi shook her head, "That's not necessary."

The man was very unconvinced, "General, I am afraid, even if it is them, I am afraid that even you, the general, may not be able to defeat us."

Liu Taozi slowly walked up to him, lowered her head and stared at him.

The man was stunned and stepped back slowly, "General."

"Come, let me try with you."

"The general holds the Khan's sword, and no one dares to hurt the general."

"Just get hurt first."

"Then let's fight, without using swords."

"it is good."

Having said this, the man did not retreat. He walked quickly to the center. The soldiers who were still training stopped at the same time, looked over here, and quickly surrounded him. It was obvious that they were well prepared.

Heba Cheng frowned immediately and was about to step forward when someone stopped him with a smile. That person was Liu Datou. He whispered, "General, don't worry. We have no ill intentions. We were just blocked at the door by the Wuchuan people and there are some things we can't say. Don't worry, we won't hurt you."

Heba Cheng frowned, "I'm not afraid that you will hurt the general, I'm afraid that the general will hurt you!!"

"Hahaha, that guy is good at hand-to-hand combat in the Huaishuo army."

"Boom!!!"

Suddenly there was a loud noise and the man quickly turned his head.

He saw Liu Taozi standing there, and the man who was good at physical combat was lying in front of him, motionless.

Liu Datou's eyes widened, he was stunned. Not only him, but also the Huaishuo people around him were also stunned at this moment.

Liu Taozi looked around and said, "Come a few more."

Then four people walked in, took off their armor, and rushed towards Liu Taozi.

Liu Taozi kicked the person who was in the front and knocked him over. Without stopping, he grabbed one of them by the collar and threw him backwards. Two people fell down in a moment. The remaining two rushed over. One of them quickly hugged his legs, and the other rushed over to push him, trying to throw Liu Taozi to the ground.

Taozi elbowed the man who was holding his legs and he fell down instantly. He caught another man, spun him a few times in the air, and threw him to the ground.

For a moment, the entire training ground was silent.

"Roar!!!"

The Wuchuan soldiers shouted suddenly.

Those Huaishuo soldiers lowered their heads, their faces turning frighteningly red.

"Keep practicing."

Liu Taozi clapped her hands and slowly walked back to Heba Cheng. Heba Cheng swallowed and secretly glanced at Liu Taozi beside him.

"What is the general looking at?"

"Ah, nothing, nothing."

The Huaishuo soldiers began to train more vigorously, and Liu Taozi's achievements quickly spread throughout Huaishuo.

"The last time I saw such a person was that villain Gao Aocao! He always led his Han people to beat us up."

"You don't know, that general is extremely strong, it's impossible that he was raised on human milk."

"I heard that the general was raised by a bear when he was young."

Many rumors about Liu Taozi spread in Huaishuo, and this continued until the day when the garrison commanders of various border towns arrived in Huaishuo.

The officers of the many garrisons, passes, towns and forts on the border set off almost the moment they saw the head.

Huaishuo is considered the most powerful border town in the entire frontier. It has a large population, is fierce, has nobles, and has many military achievements. Lou Dazhi is even more famous. This guy not only fishes at home, but also occasionally goes out to hunt game. Relying on his own surname and his own soldiers, he is rampant in the local area. Seeing his unwilling head, these people have almost no hesitation.

They realized that another ruthless man had arrived at the border.

Soon, the Huaishuo government office was filled with military officers and commanders from all over the country.

Heba Cheng was sitting in the upper seat, looking at the scene in front of him, feeling indescribably excited. This was something he had been looking forward to for a long time, and it finally came true today.

At this moment, everyone was sitting in front of Heba Cheng in an orderly manner, with almost no trace of their usual arrogance.

Heba Cheng just felt particularly comfortable. He looked at Liu Taozi who was sitting next to him.

Liu Taozi spoke up, "I summoned you today to first inform you that General Zhen has arrived here. From now on, you must obey his orders. If you don't obey his orders, you will die."

Everyone hurriedly saluted, "Yes."

Liu Taozi continued, "Also, there is the issue of money and food. The money and food provided by the government in the past two years is too little! It is not enough to eat at all!!"

Hearing Liu Taozi's words, everyone looked up, their eyes full of surprise.

Aren't you a fucking person sent by the temple? Why do you seem to be angrier than us?
Heba Cheng was also stunned at this moment. He glanced at Taozi and quickly reacted. He nodded and said, "That's right. I will report it to the imperial court! I must ask them to give me money and food!!"

Everyone's eyes lit up and they thanked him again.

Liu Taozi said: "It will take time for the government to prepare money and distribute it, but I can't wait."

The corner of Heba Cheng's mouth twitched, and Liu Taozi continued: "If the government doesn't give us food, we should take it ourselves!!"

Heba Cheng's pupils gradually dilated.

"I am planning to lead the army to the outer frontier. Before distributing food to the imperial court, I will borrow some from our neighbors outside the frontier. What do you think?"

Hearing this, everyone suddenly became louder and louder, "We have wanted to do this for a long time. Since the sixth year of Tianbao, we have been forbidden to go out and plunder every year. We have been waiting for the general to say this!!"

Heba Cheng hesitated to speak, and nodded, "Okay, let's do it."

Liu Taozi looked at everyone and said, "Let's go rob the Turks."

"what??"

Heba Cheng did not speak, but someone stood up hurriedly, "General, the Xi people are gathering outside the Great Wall. They have formed five tribes and set up officials like the others. They are interacting with the people around them, hoarding a lot of money, food, cattle and horses, and their army is incompetent. The Turks are still some distance away from us, and they have just fought with the Rouran people and have some fighting power. Why should we go to the far side instead of the near one?"

Liu Taozi frowned, "The Xi people are not worth mentioning! If we want to rob, we should rob the rich! Those Turks outside the Great Wall have just defeated the Rouran people. They have the most cattle and horses, as well as the most money and food. If we rob these people, we will have enough to eat."

Another person stood up and said, "General, what kind of people are you?"

"Don't say anything more about Xiren! I have made up my mind!!"

"only!!"

Next, Liu Taozi discussed with everyone the timing of the dispatch and the deployment of troops.

He hoped that each place could send out some men, who would be commanded by the general of the town. It would be best if they were mainly light cavalry, who could move quickly and run back after completing the looting, leaving no chance for the enemy to counterattack.

After the initial discussion, everyone left the lobby with complicated expressions.

Heba Cheng watched everyone leave and looked at Liu Taozi cautiously.

"General, the Xi people are obviously easier and more convenient to fight. Why give up on them and fight the Turks? Not to mention the Turks' fighting power, even if we win, there is no order from the temple. I'm afraid, why not fight the Xi people? There are no worries and no difficulty. We can kill a lot of them in one battle and get a lot of cattle, sheep and horses."

Liu Taozi looked at him slowly.

"Yes, what the general said makes sense. The Xi people are easier to fight and more convenient to attack. The distance to and fro is very short. We can defeat them in one battle and make them flee in all directions."

"But if the general defeats the Xi people, what will the prime minister fight when he comes?"

"Let him fight the Turks?"

(End of this chapter)