Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 185 Call the shots
The vast desert.

It was dark, but cows and sheep could still be seen grazing everywhere. No one knew where these cows and sheep came from, but they were not afraid when they saw the knights and continued to eat their meals.

Kou Liu looked into the distance vigilantly and blew the horn immediately.

Not long after, the enemy scouts slowly approached and raised their flags.

Kou Liu gave instructions to his attendants and then rode away alone.

"My troops are stationed here! Stay away!!"

Kou Liu looked at the many knights holding bows and crossbows in front of him. There was no fear on his face. His expression was solemn, staring straight at the knights in front of him with extraordinary momentum.

Among the scouts, a general carefully looked at the bandits in front of him. He looked for a long time before smiling and saying, "Don't worry, brave man. I am Chi Lie Xiaozhong, the Marquis of Yingtao County. I am here on the order of Your Majesty to escort General Liu to Wuchuan."

"Is there any imperial decree?"

"Hahaha, warrior, do you think there will be an imperial edict?"

Chi Lie Xiaozhong laughed, "How can there be a written document to prove such a thing?"

Kou Liu said seriously: "Thank you for your kindness, my lord, but our army does not need an escort."

"I am following orders, how can I leave? Just go and tell your general."

Kou Liu didn't dare to say anything more and turned around and left.

After the bandits rode away, Chi Liexiaozhong looked around with a serious expression, "I see their scouts are alert and their knights are powerful. They don't look tired. Don't rush into action."

Everyone nodded. A knight rode back to the front of the army and spoke to everyone in a low voice.

There were more than a thousand people in this group, and they didn't seem to be very familiar with each other. Even their clothes were slightly different, making them look more like an army that was hastily put together.

They all rode lightly armored horses, looked energetic and had sharp eyes.

Not long after, Kou Liu rode back on horseback again.

"My general wants to see you."

Chi Lie Xiaozhong smiled and nodded, "Okay, okay."

Kou Liu led the county marquis toward the high slope in the distance. After climbing over the slope, they could see the temporary camp.

Liu Taozi and others used carts and supplies to build a simple camp. The camp was not complete, but it had several obstacles of different levels built on all sides to prevent the war horses from charging. When Chi Liexiaozhong saw this scene, his smile became a little more hypocritical. He said with a smile, "It is said that General Liu is good at fighting. Today I see that his reputation is well-deserved. He is so vigilant even after returning victorious. I have only seen this method of setting up camps with barricades at the King of Pingyuan's place. General Liu is really good, really good."

Kou Liu didn't say anything.

Several knights were guarding the entrance and exit, holding bows and crossbows, looking at them coldly.

They went around several barricades in front of them, and circled left and right several times before finally arriving at the center.

There are tents set up here, with many bonfires in the middle, and some knights are resting here.

Then I saw Liu Taozi sitting in front of the top campfire, still wearing armor and still covered in blood. He just stared at the campfire in front of him without saying a word.

Kou Liu dismounted from his horse and looked at the county marquis.

He immediately dismounted and followed Kou Liu to Liu Taozi with a smile.

Liu Taozi was still sitting on the ground. He raised his head and looked at the county marquis with extreme rudeness.

Chi Lie Xiaozhong saluted and said, "General Liu, I am here to escort you to Wuchuan on the orders of your majesty."

Liu Taozi motioned for him to sit down.

After the other party took his seat, Liu Taozi suddenly asked, "The Xi people have already been defeated and have no fighting power. How can you say they are escorting us?"

Chi Liexiaozhong looked around and whispered, "General, you and I are all family, why do you have to do this?"

"Oh?"

"The general has offended many generals today. They all have troops under their command. If I escort them and have the order from His Majesty, they will naturally not dare to act recklessly."

"Making trouble? Do they dare to attack and kill the general?"

A trace of disdain flashed across Chi Lie Xiaozhong's face, and he quickly said, "I'm just afraid these people will act on impulse."

"General, you don't know."

"Most of these generals have their own private soldiers, and the soldiers under their command are more willing to obey their orders rather than the imperial edicts."

Chi Lie Xiaozhong cursed him in his heart for being ignorant.

What are we afraid of?

But His Majesty the Emperor, would he dare to kill the nobles in the country for the sake of a general?

We were the ones who pushed him to the throne. If it's not appropriate, we can push someone else to the throne.

After hundreds of years of struggles by heroes, the imperial power completely lost its sacredness. After an emperor was murdered in the street, after another emperor was beaten three times by a minister, and after a large number of crazy emperors appeared, the emperor became less rare.

Only when the generals with heavy troops recognize you are the emperor. If you have no troops, you are just a dog-foot emperor!

The two talked for a while.

Liu Taozi suddenly let out a long sigh.

"Ugh."

Chi Liexiaozhong was a little surprised, "Why is the general sighing?"

"I have made many contributions in this expedition, but the soldiers who stayed behind in Wuchuan have not made any achievements."

"Hahaha, General, you are in charge of Wuchuan. Are you afraid that you won't have the opportunity to make meritorious contributions in the future?"

"There are many opportunities to make meritorious contributions, but when you go back this time, you must bring something back for the soldiers stationed in Wuchuan, right?"

"What does the General want to take back?"

"Perhaps you can bring back your head."

At this moment, Chi Lie Xiaozhong felt terrified. He realized something, felt a chill on his back, jumped up, and was about to speak.

"Will"

"Shua~~"

"Pfft!"

Liu Taozi's sword flashed an arc of light, and the next moment, Chi Lie Xiaozhong's head flew up.

"Do it!!"

The soldiers roared, and those sitting by the campfire suddenly attacked, rushing to the left and right. Yao Xiong rushed out of the tent and led everyone to charge.

Kou Liu and others began to shoot.

Without any preparation, these knights who followed Chi Lie Xiaozhong into the tent suffered countless casualties. They were trapped in the middle, surrounded by enemies on all sides. Some of them returned along the same route and happened to encounter the knights who were charging towards them.

Liu Taozi held up the head and shouted in Xianbei language: "Surrender and you won't be killed!!"

But these knights never gave up resistance, and some even wanted to charge towards Liu Taozi. Liu Taozi lost his head and replaced it with a strong bow.

The shouts and wailing continued in the camp for a long time.

Yao Xiong walked to Liu Taozi's side panting, with heads hanging all over his body.

He grinned, "Brother, run a little, it's getting dark, I'm afraid I can't catch up."

"Forget it then. Let's continue to rest and have Kouliu keep an eye on the surroundings. There may be more."

"only!!"

There were soldiers holding spears, stabbing the people on the ground one by one, no matter if they were dead or alive, in the throat to ensure they would die and unable to resist.

Then you have to take away all the things on your body.

Finally, his head was cut off.

Potala Ku looked at the busy crowd in the distance and swallowed his saliva, "Brother, should this be kept secret?"

"Someone sent by the Khan."

"Oh, if the Khan wanted to send someone to escort us, why didn't he do it when we were at Erhechuan, but only halfway there?"

"Look at the way these people are dressed. Do they look like your Majesty's central army?"

"It's clearly an unorganized army put together by various nobles using private soldiers. And there's Chi Lie Xiaozhong. When the merits of the soldiers were announced yesterday, no one had heard of this person. I'm afraid this person is not real."

"Don't worry about it. Cut off their heads and bring them back to share the credit with the brothers in the garrison."

"only!!"

Since leaving Erhechuan yesterday, Liu Taozi slowed down, left the large group, and drove towards Wuchuan leisurely.

Unfortunately, big figures like Liu Honghui or Heba Ren never showed up.

Kouliu always finds some teams sneaking around, but they are all small fry and not worth mentioning.

Even the one today is not considered a big shot.

Liu Taozi had originally wanted to eliminate a few competitors for Gao Changgong in the central army, but unexpectedly, they did not even have the courage to appear in front of Liu Taozi.

After dealing with this guy, Liu Taozi accelerated his march and headed towards Wuchuan. "My Lord!"

Tian Zilie led many generals from Wuchuan and other places and went twenty miles out of the city to welcome them.

At the moment the two sides met, Tian Zili took the lead in saluting, and everyone followed suit, looking excited.

The soldiers under Liu Taozi's command finally came out of their state of alert. Kou Liu rubbed his forehead tiredly, finally no longer in that state of 'seeing enemies everywhere'.

Tian Zilie personally stepped forward, took the reins, and led the horse for Liu Taozi.

The blue lion recognized this guy and did not resist.

"My Lord, you are finally back. We have been missing you day and night since you left."

Tian Zili was very excited. Although he had a lot to say to the general, this was not the place to talk.

The army set out towards Wuchuan. Yao Xiong was surrounded by the crowd at this moment, and was showing off his achievements. The news of Liu Taozi's promotion also spread.

Tian Zili glanced at him and said, "He doesn't learn anything from Mr. Lu's strengths."

He looked at Liu Taozi again, his face full of joy, "Brother now has an official position, a title, and even more real power."

"The more than 30 garrisons and more than 40 checkpoints outside of Shuoheng all belong to you, brother."

The position of garrison general was established during wartime or before a war, and was usually held by garrison commanders of varying sizes to command border troops.

During wartime, a governor-general is often appointed, and all local areas and garrisons are under the command of this governor-general and go to war together.

This shows how great the power of General Zhen is.

This general is a fourth-rank official position, nominally the same level as the governor. The governor is in charge of prefectures and counties, while the general is in charge of border garrisons. Just as there are differences in the size of prefecture governors, there are also differences in the rank of generals.

There were generals who led only a few garrisons, and might have less than three thousand men under their command.

But Liu Taozi's town general and all the towns outside Shuoheng can gather 30,000 to 40,000 elite cavalry, which is very terrifying.

During this time, Tian Zili gained a full understanding of the various systems within the Da Qi State.

"Brother, I can finally reorganize the border troops openly and truly lead them."

“I’m afraid it’s not that easy.”

"These border garrisons will never have peace in the future."

Liu Taozi spoke slowly, interrupting Tian Zili's sweet dream.

Tian Zili did not feel uneasy. He laughed and said, "Brother, when I had nothing in the past, I was not afraid of these monsters and demons. Now that the situation is established, why should I worry about these villains?"

When they returned to Wuchuan, Cui Gang led the rest of the people to greet them.

This triumphant return greatly boosted the morale of the Wuchuan army, but some people also cried and wailed as they looked at the corpses that were sent to them.

This war yielded rich gains, but also resulted in considerable losses.

Several veterans under Liu Taozi were killed in the war, and the rest of the knights who died, including the Cangtou slaves, totaled more than 800 people.

The Xi people also had bows and arrows and spears, which could also be used to kill people.

Looking at the crying families of the military households, Liu Taozi remained silent for a long time. He called Cui Gang and ordered him to give more rewards to these military households and not to kick them out even if they lost their male children.

The army entered Wuchuan, and Liu Taozi ordered the army to disband and rest.

The military officers did not dare to rest yet. They were still counting their military merits and preparing to fulfill the pre-war rewards promised by Liu Taozi.

In the government office, Liu Taozi sat at the upper seat, with his minions on both sides.

Liu Taozi has put on a brand new official robe, with armor inside and official robe outside. He looks majestic and unstoppable. Some of the people under his command are wearing armor, and some are wearing official uniforms. They are no longer as rough as before.

Inside the bright government office, civil and military officials are clearly distinguished, and the atmosphere is high.

There were also soldiers standing outside the door, fully armed, patrolling back and forth.

The hall was filled with generals, so packed that there was not even enough room.

"Congratulations General Zhen!!"

Tu Xiyue stood up first and expressed his congratulations to Liu Taozi.

"I am willing to follow General Zhen and make new contributions!!"

He then demonstrated his loyalty.

Those generals who came from various places and were from garrison towns followed him and hurriedly stood up and saluted again.

"I am willing to follow General Zhen and make great achievements!!"

Tian Zili and others still sat in the front seats with smiles on their faces. They no longer needed to show obedience.

The news of Liu Taozi's reward had spread throughout the border towns, and generals from all over the country came to Wuchuan to formally pay homage to the biggest leader.

At that time, Heba Cheng was also a garrison general. After arriving at the border, he had to win over his relatives here. Even if he bribed them with money, he could not make them obey.

But the current general had just returned to Wuchuan for two days, and generals from all over the country had already come to pay him a visit without stopping, and no one dared to hesitate.

Liu Taozi looked at the generals around him one by one.

"I don't care what your last names are. I don't care what letters your relatives in Jinyang write to you. If you follow me wholeheartedly, I will treat it as a close friend. I will reward you if you have made contributions, and I will promote you if you have made enough contributions. I will never be stingy."

"It's still the same three military orders."

"No loitering, no bullying, no laziness."

"The Pseudo-Zhou is colluding with the Turks and is ready to make a move. Reorganize the border troops and I will divide my forces to attack and make the enemy restless."

"This is a good opportunity for border generals to perform meritorious services and gain fame."

“Don’t make mistakes.”

Everyone immediately bowed again, "Yes!!"

"If you pretend to obey but secretly disobey, collude with outsiders, and harm the interests of Dabian Town, even if your surname is Gao, I will chop you into pieces and eat it with wine. Do you understand?"

"only!!!"

Liu Taozi waved her hand and everyone sat back in their seats.

"The Khan attaches great importance to the soldiers at the border. He specifically ordered me to settle the civilians and select the best from among them as auxiliary soldiers. They will assist the border soldiers in the future, build roads and bridges, and do a good job of logistics, so that the border soldiers can go out without worries."

"Long live the Khan!!"

Yao Xiong took the lead in shouting, and the others followed suit.

Liu Taozi added: "All places must recruit young and strong civilians and send them to Wuchuan for training. Later, Tian Changshi will discuss this matter with you."

"only!!"

Liu Taozi looked at Cui Gang on the side and said, "This time, the border soldiers followed the generals to the battle. If there are any who have made meritorious deeds but have not received any rewards, we should immediately investigate them. If there are any who have made meritorious deeds but have not received any rewards, we should send people to ask for them. Our border soldiers must not be wronged."

After these words were spoken, the generals sitting in front of Liu Taozi suddenly became much more energetic.

Over the years, the border soldiers were treated like stepmothers, perhaps because they were not pure "Xianbei" troops. The ratio of Han to Khitan was too high, which was different from the "national concept" of Jinyang, which divided enemies and friends based on region. Therefore, they were increasingly ignored.

Of course, there are many more factors that cannot be stated explicitly, such as Wuchuan.

It is well known that every Wuchuan soldier has a relative living in the west.

Zhou and Qi were originally one dynasty, and were even two groups that revolted in the same uprising. The border town uprising laid the foundation for these two divided powerful countries. After the war, the border towns were nominally abolished, but continued to exist in the form of garrison towns.

Those who used to be hungry here are now well fed in Jinyang and other places in the Pseudo-Zhou Dynasty.

However, they were more worried about the reappearance of the same group, so they imposed restrictions in terms of food, weapons, promotions, etc., weakened the jurisdiction of the garrisons, did not appoint a chief general, and tried to disperse them.

In fact, they could have not worked so hard. If they could have fed the border soldiers, even if they were not too full, at least they had something to eat, they would have felt at ease. But they had to squeeze even such a small amount of food out of the soldiers' teeth and were not afraid to use other methods to restrict them. It was their endless greed.

When it was time to go to war, the generals would select the best troops from these people and send them out to fight. After the battle, they would get military merits and then send the troops back.

The border soldiers suffered heavy casualties, so they would send more civilians from the Central Plains to replenish them, and hollow out their own border wall bit by bit.

This time, Liu Taozi only brought the Wuchuan soldiers, while the rest of the troops followed those airborne generals to fight. Now that they were sent back after the battle, where did they see any military merits? ?

Liu Datou immediately stood up and said excitedly: "General, this time my troops followed General Murong Sanzang to the battle and killed many people, but we didn't get any reward!"

Liu Taozi looked at Cui Gang.

"record."

"Send someone to ask Murong Sanzang for it."

"I remember his ancestral home is not far from us in Dai County. Send someone to tell him that if he owes me border soldiers, I will lead people to demolish his ancestral home and use his ancestors' skulls as banners."

Cui Gang pursed his lips and was silent for a moment before answering: "Yes"

Liu Datou was overjoyed, "Thank you, General!"

At this moment, another person stood up and said, "General, this time my army killed a brave general. He was shot by my knights."

"Well, you don't have to tell me, tell Cui Shuzuo later."

"From today on, I will be in charge of everything. You don't have to be afraid of others."

(End of this chapter)