Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 410: Have you had enough of the trouble?

Kim Yong Fortress.

This time, Jinyong City was one of the few cities that did not experience direct fighting. However, due to Dugu Yongye's escape, the city was looted by disorderly soldiers, so the city was also quite desolate.

Officials sent from Hebei are moving south of the river in an endless stream.

As Wang Lin and Kou Liu's last army completed the crusade, the State of Qi was completely destroyed.

There was no city flying the flag of Qi anymore.

Except for Lianghuai which was still in the hands of the Chen people, all other counties and prefectures fell into the hands of Liu Taozi.

This would have been a good thing, but there is no joy in Henan at the moment. Various places have suffered serious damage, the people are exhausted, the granaries are empty, and the poverty is visible to the naked eye.

A group of people appeared at the south gate of Jinyong City.

The soldiers at the city gate were already familiar with this scene.

During these days, officials often took up their posts.

These people are not the first.

They checked the other party's past very skillfully, but after seeing this, these soldiers immediately became serious, the smiles on their faces disappeared a lot, they saluted respectfully to the newcomers, sent someone to report to the government office in the city, and then sent the newcomers into the city.

Just because the person who arrived this time was not an ordinary official.

He is a governor.

Luozhou Governor Yuan Biao stuck his head out and looked around, his eyes full of worry.

This governor is almost fifty years old, but you can't tell from his appearance.

He was dressed like a famous scholar, clean and tidy, and there was a strange fragrance coming from his body, which was due to the sachet he brought.

The smell of a child from a wealthy family lingered on him.

Several servants followed behind him, looking at the dilapidated scenes around them, all of them were a little dazed. Some were about to complain, but Yuan Biao stopped them.

Yuan Biao stared at them and whispered, "No one should talk nonsense."

These people immediately lowered their heads.

Yuan Biao led the people behind him into the city.

Yuan Biao was previously working in Bingzhou. While he was doing his work, he suddenly received an imperial edict from the court, ordering him not to stay in Bingzhou and to go to Luozhou as soon as possible to take up the post of governor.

Yuan Biao himself was confused, but there was no other way, so he had to rush to Luozhou with the officials who had gathered there.

Therefore, he came quickly.

When Yuan Biao and everyone hurried to the government office, Zu Ting was standing at the door with a smile on his face, waiting for them.

When he saw Zu Ting, Yuan Biao trembled all over and bowed his head hurriedly.

“Grandfather!!”

"Hahaha, Lord Yuan, why bother being so polite!"

Zu Ting hurriedly helped him up, but Yuan Biao's eyes were full of flattery, "Grandpa, you are the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty, and you should be treated with all the courtesy you deserve."

Zu Ting was overjoyed and grabbed his hand, "You are still as talkative as before!"

Yuan Biao's face was full of smiles, and he praised Zu Ting in various ways.

This Lord Yuan came from a prominent family, had experience and administrative talent. He had governed the frontiers and the Central Plains, and his political achievements were outstanding. However, he was criticized for one thing, which was that he was too humble.

This is not to say that Yuan Biao would sell himself out for the powerful and do shameful things like those villains in the country. He just simply doesn't have that kind of arrogance and does things very carefully. Don't be surprised if he flatters everyone he meets.

Zu Ting said, "His Majesty is inside. I will take you to find him."

Hearing this, Yuan Biao trembled all over, and fear was clearly revealed in his eyes.

The smile on Zu Ting's face suddenly froze.

He slowly stared at the terrified new governor and asked, "Why are you so afraid to see His Majesty?"

"Did you make any mistake?"

Yuan Biao wanted to cry but had no tears, "Grandfather, it wasn't me, it was my good-for-nothing brother!!"

Zu Ting let go of his hand instantly, and even his voice became alert, "Your brother? What did he do wrong?"

Yuan Biao said bitterly: "When Your Majesty had not yet ascended the throne and was still serving as an official in Liyang, my brother Yuan Wenyao was the governor there. He had no talent and little virtue, and he offended Your Majesty and Governor Shi."

"If your majesty were to punish me for this matter, what should I do?"

Zu Ting finally reacted.

Oh, it’s something that happened when Your Majesty was an official.

Zu Ting held Yuan Biao's hand again and said seriously, "Don't worry."

"Your Majesty is definitely not the mad king of Qi."

"It is very simple to serve His Majesty. All you have to do is show your merit. His Majesty never bears grudges against anyone, nor does he care about the backgrounds or identities of his subordinates. He is fair in everything he does. He rewards those who have made contributions and punishes those who have made mistakes. That's all."

"You were appointed governor because of your seniority and merits. His Majesty will never blame you for those things."

After listening to Zu Ting's words, Yuan Biao finally felt much better.

Yuan Biao is also an old Xianbei. His ancestor was the chief of the Tuoba tribe. It’s just that he stayed in the Central Plains for too long, and his entire family has completely transformed into the appearance of a large Han clan.

It's not just their family, many families have the same situation.

Under the guidance of Zu Ting, Yuan Biao lowered his head and walked carefully into the government office, all the way to where Liu Taozi was.

Even though Liu Taozi became the King of Heaven, his residence remained as simple as ever. There were not so many etiquette and complicated ceremonies exclusive to the emperor or the King of Heaven. When you pushed open the door, you could see him sitting there, with only two scholars beside him.

Everything was very casual, but Yuan Biao was very serious in meeting him using formal ceremony.

Liu Taozi just looked at him a few more times out of curiosity and let him sit aside.

"Who is Yuan Wenyao of the Yuan Wen Sect to you?"

"Your Majesty, he is my brother."

"Ah."

Liu Taozi nodded, but did not ask about it any further. He asked directly: "The government has re-planned the prefectures and counties. The current Luozhou is much larger than the previous Luozhou. It includes the Heluo area."

"After the war, the place was in ruins. What are your thoughts after taking up the post?"

Yuan Biao straightened up quickly. When he talked about work, the timid expression on his face disappeared, and he became much more confident. "Your Majesty, I think the first thing Luozhou should do now is to gather civilians to build docks, bridges, roads and posthouses on both sides."

Liu Taozi said, "Why?"

"The situation in Luozhou is different from other places. It has a large population and has suffered serious damage. It cannot be self-sufficient in the short term and can only rely on relief from the surrounding areas. Moreover, this place is a key road connecting the two sides of the river. In the future, if we want to govern the south, we must pass through Luozhou. The west is close to the enemy and is easily attacked by the enemy."

"Therefore, we must first ensure that we can communicate with the surrounding areas, so that we can ensure that food and supplies can be transported smoothly, and restore the post houses along the way to ensure that we will not be attacked by the Pseudo-Zhou."

Yuan Biao talked more and more, and he did do a lot of preparation before arriving here.

Zu Ting was a little surprised listening to him talking.

He talked about a lot, ranging from people's livelihood, to commerce, to the recovery of surrounding villages and towns, etc.

Liu Taozi listened to his story carefully and asked a few questions from time to time.

Only after he finished speaking did Liu Taozi's eyes show some relief.

"You are very good."

After Yuan Biao finished speaking, he returned to his previous fearful look.

Liu Taozi added: "Isn't this confident look of a real man a hundred times better than the timid look just now?"

Yuan Biao didn't know what to say and there was some confusion in his eyes.

"You can be bolder, not only in doing things, but also in daily life. In the past, the government was dangerous and everyone had difficulty protecting themselves, so they were afraid and submissive. I understand that. However, you don't have to be so afraid in the future. If someone bullies you, write to me and I will help you out."

"Thank you very much, Your Majesty."

After Yuan Biao left, Zu Ting suddenly said, "Your Majesty, the ministers have not let you down."

"The many provincial governors recommended are all wise and have no connections with the people in the court. They come from all kinds of backgrounds, so it won't become a gathering to divide the spoils."

Zu Ting narrowed his eyes, his look was fierce and cold.

Zu Ting only requested three places, but he could actually recommend more.

Recommending only three people is actually misleading the people in the court.

Those three were Zu Ting's smokescreen. Let's look at the three people he recommended. Fang Bao was the magistrate of Cheng'an County, so he would most likely be mistaken for the Cheng'an faction. Su Qiong was a Han official from Yecheng, so he would be considered to be from the Yecheng faction. As for Meng Ye, he started his career in Dingzhou and was recommended by Dingzhou to serve as a Dianqian official, so he could easily be mistaken for being from the Dingzhou faction.
This was the practice of Qi State in the past.

When he was in Qi, when new positions were created, they were often divided up like this, with each person getting a little, to ensure that all factions had something to eat. Zu Ting did this on purpose, he wanted the ministers in the court to think this way.

He was looking forward to these ministers giving him a surprise, especially the Han ministers from Yecheng. If they could recommend a few governors who had no qualifications and were not as talented as average people, then Zu Ting would have a lot of fun watching them.

If Your Majesty does not kill them and cause rivers of blood to flow, it would be unworthy of your reputation as the real killer.

It’s just a pity that these people don’t even have the courage to nominate. What a pity, what a pity.

Liu Taozi simply said: "Although the officials we have arranged are not bad, the local situation is too bad."

"Each of these eight newly established states needs relief from the temple."

"Your Majesty, don't worry about it. In my opinion, this is Zheng Guoqu's strategy."

"In ancient times, Korea was afraid of Qin. Fearing an attack from Qin, they sent craftsmen to their country to induce them to build canals. Qin spent a lot of money and was indeed unable to fight in the short term. However, after the canals were successfully built, their national strength was unstoppable and no one could defeat them!"

“Isn’t it the same now?”

"It seems that Yang Su has temporarily delayed our attack, but the powerful families in various places have also suffered serious damage, and we have easily taken over eight states."

"If he wasn't there, and Duan Shao was left to confront us, Duan Shao has always been good at fighting, and I don't know how long it would take to get these eight states."

Zu Ting cleared his throat and said, "It is indeed a difficult task now. It will consume a great deal of energy. I may not be able to go out to fight for several years."

"But as long as we resolve the situation in these eight states and restore them to normal."

Zu Ting couldn't help laughing. "Your Majesty, you have pushed the enemy to this point with the ten states of Hebei. What if the nineteen states exert their strength at the same time?"

"One day, Yang Su will find out how big a mistake he has made."

"He will see with his own eyes our elite troops of 100,000 armored men breaking through the walls of Chang'an."

Before Zu Ting finished bragging, Liu Taozi took the document in his hand and handed it to him.

"Let's talk about the current situation first."

"Look at this."

"This was sent from the front line. Yuwen Xian led his troops to launch a counterattack and wrote a letter asking for support from Yuchi Jiong. It seems that they have decided to counterattack Xiazhou and will never give in."

Zu Ting looked at it very seriously.

After looking at it over and over again, a hint of hesitation flashed across Zu Ting's face, but it quickly disappeared.

He subconsciously hid the document in his sleeve, but then quickly reacted and put it down.

"Your Majesty, the Zhou people are disobedient and unwilling to withdraw their troops, so let us show them what the consequences will be if we continue the war."

The next day, the gates of Jinyong City were opened.

An elite cavalry rushed out of the city and headed west.

At the same time, the troops stationed in many surrounding towns also rushed westward.

Zhou, Ningcheng, Zhongzhou.

Ningcheng is located at a very high altitude, and its city walls are much higher than ordinary city walls. The defender is standing on the wall at this moment, staring at the Han troops that keep appearing in the distance, his chest heaving.

He was terrified.

Starting from yesterday, a large number of Han cavalry appeared on the official road leading to Luozhou.

The garrisons along the way all sent out emergency calls, saying that they had seen the enemy, and today, these enemies appeared right in front of them.

These cavalrymen were scouts. After they arrived, they ignored the defenders in the city and began to observe the surrounding terrain and defenses in a swaggering manner.

This is the beginning of the attack.

The guard's eyes were filled with fear. He swallowed and looked around.

"What did the governor say?"

"No reply yet."

"The enemy is about to attack the city. It's Liu Taozi's flag! Liu Taozi is here in person!"

"There are more than 3,000 scouts alone. How many troops are behind them?"

"Tell the governor to gather the troops from all over the country as soon as possible. I can't stop him. I can't stop him."

The defending general's panic spread easily, making the other generals particularly fearful as well.

From Luoyang to Chang'an is actually not as far as imagined.

The same is true of the distance between Heluo and Pseudo-Zhou.

When Liu Taozi began to gather the surrounding troops and began to actively move towards Zhongzhou, the Pseudo-Zhou side was in chaos.

Because there has been no attack here for a long time.

Aren't you supposed to be fighting for the jade disc?

Why are you here?!
The news here was constantly passed on, and the governor quickly passed the news of Liu Taozi's army's expedition to Chang'an.

Yuwen Yong in Chang'an was still busy dealing with the documents in his hands. Before he finished his work, he heard the news that Liu Taozi was going to launch an attack from the direction of Heluo.

Yuwen Yong was completely stunned.

He quickly summoned many of his confidants to confirm the truth of the news.

After everyone arrived, no one spoke much.

This series of failures and setbacks made many people lose the courage to face Liu Taozi.

Gao Ying looked at the people around him and spoke first.

"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry."

"It is impossible for Liu Taozi to send troops from Heluo to attack Chang'an."

"He doesn't have that much food. Besides, it will be spring planting soon. How can he go to war at this time?"

Gao Jiong said helplessly: "Liu Taozi acted like this just to force us to withdraw. He is anxious to end the war, and we are still fighting the enemy in Yanzhou. He is just intimidating us."

Yuwen Yong was extremely tired, with an indescribable loneliness in his eyes.

When Yuwen Hu was in power, he looked down on Yuwen Hu and thought that if he were in power, everything would go exceptionally smoothly.

But when he started to handle these things personally, he began to understand some of Yuwen Hu's helplessness.

This matter is indeed difficult to handle.

In other words, Liu Taozi is really too difficult to deal with.

This is not intimidation, this is humiliation.

In Liu Taozi's eyes, Yuwen Xian's fierce attack was just the unreasonable harassment of a child.

Faced with such entanglement, he simply raised his hand and threatened the child: Have you had enough?

Yuwen Yong even felt that if he ignored Liu Taozi and insisted on making more efforts to support Yuwen Xian's expedition, Liu Taozi might really start from Heluo. No one said that he must not go to the expedition during the spring planting season, and it was not that he could not provide any food.

He brought a small cavalry with him, which was enough to make him suffer a lot.

Suddenly, Yuwen Yong felt a deep sense of despair and powerlessness.

One step wrong, step by step wrong.

After Yuwen Hu destroyed the country's accumulated strength, the Zhou Kingdom fell into a passive position everywhere. Every time it went on an expedition, it could only use 10,000 to 20,000 troops. It could no longer summon the 24 prefectures to send an army of 200,000 as before.

Moreover, each time the troops were mobilized, they were insufficient in terms of weapons, food supplies, and other aspects.

Their combat effectiveness was reduced, and they were subsequently defeated one after another by the Han army.

By now, the situation and crisis have become uncontrollable.

Some people in China even proposed to move the capital, and some wanted to move to Hanzhong! !
Whenever Yuwen Yong thought of these things, he became furious.

He stood up suddenly, his eyes fierce and his whole body shaking.

Gao Jiong sensed the emperor's anger and felt something was wrong. "Your Majesty!"

Yuwen Yong took a deep breath and forced himself to suppress the anger in his heart.

"Send someone to inform Duke Qi."

"The troops along the way will withdraw."

"Let him personally guard Yanzhou. As for Xiazhou, we will discuss it later."

(End of this chapter)