Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 448: Horses Trampling Chang'an
Changan.

Wei Xiaokuan was sitting in the mansion at this moment, with all the young men in his family gathered around him.

Wei Xiaokuan lost his official position, but his descendants did not think it was a bad thing. Dugu Qi's harm became more and more serious, causing panic in the people of Chang'an. The nobles north of Chang'an were so scared that they dared not eat peaches.

It would be a good thing not to fight with the Qihu and to stay in Chang'an to retire.

Wei Xiaokuan is no longer young, and there are so many young people in the army, so just leave the important tasks to them.

However, looking at his children and grandchildren gathered in front of him, Wei Xiaokuan's eyes were filled with increasing worry.

How can this be good?

His younger brother Wei Ying was sitting next to him. He was a typical Han scholar-official. Whether in his appearance, temperament or clothes, he had the style of those hermits who liked to hide in the mountains and forests during the Wei and Jin dynasties.

The Wei family is Han Chinese and comes from a prominent family, the Jingzhao Wei family.

There are all kinds of children in the family, some are good at fighting, some are good at making pills, and some are good at living in seclusion. This is a big family.

Wei Ying said calmly: "Brother, what is there to be greedy about in this power?"

"I know that you have always had great ambitions, but life is short and power is illusory. Why don't you come with me? We can play the piano, write poetry, and write articles together."

“I have never been greedy.”

"I'm just worried that your free time won't last long."

Wei Xiaokuan interrupted his brother in a harsh tone.

Wei Ying was not angry either. He smiled and stroked his long beard, "I have no interest in government affairs. I just focus on writing. Mundane affairs cannot harm me."

Wei Xiaokuan did not answer.

Everyone just thought that Wei Xiaokuan had just returned and was in a bad mood, so no one said much.

His son, Mr. Wei, was impatient. "Father, why did you call us here?"

"We are about to face a disaster. We have summoned you here to discuss how to protect ourselves."

"what?"

Everyone was shocked. Wei Xiaokuan had many relatives in Chang'an, including his son, cousin, younger brother, in-laws, nephews, etc.

They were all extremely surprised when they heard Wei Xiaokuan's words.

Mr. Wei had the most aggressive personality. He immediately asked, "Father, what do you mean by this? Is someone trying to make things difficult for my family?!"

However, for several of the young men, the person that appeared in their minds at this moment was Yuwen Yong. They were horrified when they thought of the tragic end of those previous dukes.

Wei Xiaokuan took a deep breath and said, "Your Majesty is determined to go south to fight. All the elite troops in Guanzhong have been sent out, and Chang'an is empty. I am afraid that Liu Taozi will attack and Chang'an will be lost."

After hearing these words, the shock on everyone's faces dissipated a lot.

Mr. Wei smiled and said, "I thought it was nothing. Father is worrying too much. The Han thieves have been here before. So what? No matter how weak the city defense was in the past, they never dared to attack the city. Chang'an is a strong city. If there is no internal support, it will definitely not fall."

“The current situation is different from the past.”

"Father, please stop talking and just stay at home."

Several people started to persuade each other.

The calm Wei Xiaokuan suddenly became furious.

"Shut up! Shut up! Listen to me!!"

"He doesn't listen to me, do you dare not listen to me too?!"

Seeing Wei Xiaokuan like this, no one dared to speak. They all bowed their heads and apologized. Wei Xiaokuan said angrily: "This place is the home of the princes. If the city is broken, the enemy will not only occupy it but also plunder it. I am afraid that the households here will not be spared. You can go to the old house in the east of the city first, change into simple clothes, and take a rest. If the enemy has not arrived, that would be the best. If the enemy comes, the cavalry will attack the city quickly, and then it will be too late to hide."

"Put away the good horses and don't make any noise."

Wei Xiaokuan made careful arrangements.

Everyone disagreed, but what could they do? Wei Xiaokuan was the parent, so even if they didn't believe it, they had to obey. Disobeying parents was not a good thing.

After Wei Xiaokuan made the arrangements, everyone went back to their own work.

President Wei walked out of the door with a helpless look on his face. Looking at Wei Jin, who was following him in fear, he cursed, "What are you afraid of!"

"Father is feeling bad after losing to Liu Taozi, so he has these symptoms. Sooner or later, I will kill Liu Taozi to relieve this worry for him!"

Wei Jin shuddered, "But what if it's true?"

"How"

"boom!!!"

They heard a loud noise coming from a distance and both of them were startled.

A moment later, a knight came galloping from a distance. The clerks cried out in surprise and the place became a mess in an instant.

"Eastern thief!! The Eastern thief is coming!!"

President Wei was stunned and stood there.

"Boom~~"

The catapult launched a fierce attack on the north city wall.

These are all movable catapults. On weekdays, they are disassembled into parts and carried in the army. After arriving at the city, they are immediately assembled and used for siege.

The city of Chang'an is strong and huge.

This kind of flying stones really cannot destroy the city of Chang'an, but it can effectively hit morale.

Chang'an City has not suffered such an attack for a long time.

Outside the city, the craftsmen were busy setting up ladders with the help of many grooms and waiters, preparing for the siege later.

Liu Taozi stood not far away, staring at the Chang'an City in front of him, with an inexplicable gleam in his eyes.

The generals were all very excited. Even Gao Changgong, such a fearless man, was now shaking in his hands as he held the spear.

Changan!!

The catapults were still firing continuously, and the knights fetched stones for them, and ladders and other equipment were also being quickly assembled.

But in Chang'an City, the chaos had not yet ended.

Before Yuwen Yong left, he specifically asked his younger brother, Prince of Zhao, Yuwen Zhao, to be in charge of the defense of Chang'an. Prince of Zhao was a heavyweight, not to say that he had a bad character.

Yuwen Zhao was a kind and benevolent man, and he also had some military accomplishments. He had led troops and fought against enemies.

The only drawback is that he is too young.

He is only 21 years old this year, and facing this sudden situation, he seems a little panicked and helpless.

He stood on the city wall, holding a sharp blade, staring at the enemy in the distance.

The soldiers gathered around him, holding large shields.

Yuwen Zhao looked around, undecided.

Just when everyone was at a loss, an old man in armor rushed up to the city.

"Duke Deng!!"

When he saw the old man, Yuwen Zhao was overjoyed, and all his worries disappeared.

The person who came was Dou Chi, Duke of Deng. Dou Chi did not even have time to salute King Zhao. He rushed forward quickly and looked at the enemy in the distance.

"not good!"

"The enemy is building siege equipment!!"

Yuwen Zhao hurriedly said: "Duke, how should we defend the city? I am willing to obey your orders!"

Dou Chi did not care whether his actions were presumptuous or not. He directly started the city defense deployment on behalf of Yuwen Zhao. Dou Chi had fought in battles all his life and had sufficient experience in all aspects.

Both sides are making preparations in various places.

Liu Taozi slowly drew out his sword and aimed it at the Chang'an City in front of him.

"Chang'an is right before our eyes, who can help me get it?!"

"I will be the vanguard!"

Gao Changgong stood up.

"it is good!"

"Siege the city!!!"

"kill!!!"

Gao Changgong led the knights to launch an attack. These elite knights, holding longbows, began shooting back and forth at the city walls.

Arrows flew.

The defenders on the city wall immediately chose to counterattack.

The crossbow roared, and the huge arrows were enough to penetrate armor.

The warriors pushed the ladder truck and quickly approached the city wall.

Liu Taozi only attacked the north side of the city wall.

Dou Chi left only a few soldiers in other places and gathered most of the people in the north without any hesitation.

The old man stood on the city wall, drew his bow himself and shot the Han army.

"Are you ready? If the ladder gets close, burn it immediately!!"

"leave!!!"

The logs were thrown down from the city wall and hit the warriors below.

The warriors held large shields, but the rolling logs were so powerful that they were knocked down one after another. The battle was extremely fierce, and even Gao Changgong was knocked off the ladder once, but he was not afraid at all and continued to attack with his large shield.

The two sides were deadlocked on the north city wall, and the fighting became more and more intense.

The shouts and cries of killing rose to the sky, and seemed to be heard dozens of miles inside and outside the city.

The city had been in chaos for a long time. The emperor was not in the city at the moment, and almost all the nobles in the world were gathered here. From officials to many nobles, they were all scared out of their wits.

If the city was breached by the enemy, they dared not imagine what would happen to them.

Blood splattered everywhere.

On the city wall, soldiers fell to the ground.

Gao Changgong, wearing a mask, rushed up the city wall again. He was covered in blood, and even the mask looked so eerie and terrifying at this moment.

The soldiers around were so frightened that their legs went weak just by looking at the blood-stained mask.

Gao Changgong almost went crazy.

Take Chang'an!!
Changan!!
He rushed towards the Zhou army in front of him. Seeing how brave the general was, the Han army shouted and followed him. There was chaos on the city wall.

Gao Changgong continued to advance, and the bodies of the enemies kept appearing on both sides of him. Huluxian also led the second team to launch a fierce attack. After Gao Changgong opened a gap in the city wall, they continued to attack the city wall through the gap.

Dou Chi's eyes were bloodshot and his whole body was frozen in place.

When Yuwen Yong led his troops this time, they were deployed on various important roads outside Chang'an. Chang'an itself did not leave too many elite troops. Moreover, Chang'an was a huge city, so the defensive and offensive pressures were equally great.

The Han army had already completely pressed forward at this moment. They did not leave any reserves. Except for the craftsmen, they all seemed to have rushed forward.

Although Chang'an was empty, they could not delay as they were surrounded by enemy troops.

The longer you delay, the greater the risk.

Dou Chi was at the forefront, and surrounded by several personal soldiers, he continuously organized counterattacks to kill all the enemies.

At this moment, a fully armed strong man came up to the city. The personal soldiers around him were far better than those around Dou Chi, both in terms of clothing and physique.

Dou Chi was stunned for a moment, then reacted quickly.

"Dugu Qi is really harmful!!!"

Dou Chi roared, dropped his long weapon, took out his short weapon, and rushed towards the bandit general.

The soldiers around him raised their shields and charged forward fiercely.

"Bang!!"

With a loud bang, the personal soldiers of both sides collided with each other.

Dou Chi raised his short weapon and was about to hug the enemy general in front of him.

"How dare you, old thief!!"

Shi Wansui roared angrily and hit Dou Chi hard with the big shield in his hand. Dou Chi was hit by the shield and fell to the ground. He struggled to get up, but Liu Taozi stabbed him with a spear, and Dou Chi's body was directly pierced through.

Led by several fierce generals, the Han army launched a frenzied attack, and the Zhou army was already beginning to be unable to withstand the attack.

They continued to be defeated, and more and more areas were occupied by the Han army.

They fought their way to the city wall again and began to attack other locations.

Someone accidentally dropped the torch used to ignite the ladder truck, but it fell on their side, and the house near the city wall caught fire first.

Liu Taozi and others rushed to the bottom of the city wall, and then they dispersed and chased after the Zhou army in the city.

The sound of fighting slowly shifted from the city wall to the inside of the city, and became closer and closer in the alleys.

In an ordinary house in the east of the city.

President Wei was holding a long knife and blocking the door with his brother Wei Jin. Both of them were pale and trembling all over.

They could hear shouting and killing coming from outside the door, and the enemies were fighting right at their doorstep.

There was another sound of hurried horse hooves, and the enemy had already started riding into the city.

In the inner courtyard, the men gathered together, and everyone was shivering.

Even the famous scholar who had advised Wei Xiaokuan not to be greedy for power was now shaking like a sieve.

"Brother, brother, what can we do?"

"Don't be afraid. The enemy cannot occupy Chang'an. The rest depends on God's will."

Wei Xiaokuan slowly closed his eyes.

Beacon fires were lit along the way, and the knights rushed in all directions with the news that Chang'an had been attacked.

At this time, the Zhou army had just captured the last city of Anzhou in the hands of the southerners and completely drove the Chen people back.

Yuwen Yong never forgot the previous lesson, so he did not participate in any of the following battles. He just sat in the back and rewarded the meritorious soldiers, and that was all.

In fact, that's enough.

The emperor is behind them, and if they make contributions they can meet the emperor. The soldiers just need to know this, and there is no need for them to get on a chariot to chase the enemy.

After Yuwen Xian and Yuchi Jia took over, they completely wiped out the remaining Chen people.

Huang Fachi and Chunyu Liang ran very fast and were not caught.

Huang Fachi was still able to gain a foothold outside and gather his defeated soldiers, and he had not completely lost his combat effectiveness.

Taking the situation that day as an example, even if Gao Yanzong had not escaped, Yuwen Yong would have been beaten by Huang Fachi if he had chased him so fiercely.

At this moment, Yuwen Yong was sitting in the big tent, with generals standing on both sides.

Yuwen Yong was extremely happy.

He held a wine cup and drank with many generals.

"All the generals have made great contributions in defeating the bandits this time!!"

"The Chen rebels, such as Huang Fachu, Chunyu Liang, Zhang Zhaoda, and Xu Jingcheng, are all vulnerable. This shows that the Chen army is weak and cannot defeat us. It is only a matter of time before we capture Jiankang!"

Yuwen Yong ignored everything else and first severely belittled his enemies, and then began to praise his own family members.

In this battle, the backbone of Yuwen Yong's army were all young and strong.

The leadership of the army has shifted from Yuchi Jiong to Yuwen Xian, and under them are mostly young generals, such as Yang Su, He Ruobi, Han Qinhu and countless others.

This battle is enough to prove that there is no shortage of brave warriors among the young men of Zhou State.

A large number of royal family members he arranged also achieved military merit and honed their skills.

This is what Yuwen Yong wanted to see.

Next, he can gradually let these young people and royal family members come to power and use their power to further consolidate his reforms.

Thinking of this, the shame of being defeated by Gao Yanzong before was not so great.

Yuwen Yong has never cared about temporary success or failure, and he will not be obsessed with this matter. As long as he can achieve his goal, it will be fine.

He looked at the people in front of him. These were his confidants and the foundation for him to pacify the world in the future.

He cleared his throat and prepared to read out the rewards for them.

"His Majesty!!!"

Gao Jiong walked in quickly at this moment, being extremely rude. He was pale and looked very abnormal.

Yuwen Yong was about to scold him, but when he saw his expression, he did not scold him. He motioned for everyone to continue drinking, and then looked at Gao Jiong with a smile. Gao Jiong walked to Yuwen Yong tremblingly at this moment and whispered a few words.

"What did you say?!"

Yuwen Yong suddenly became irritable.

The sound was so loud that the generals present fell silent and all looked at him.

Yuwen Yong's face turned red, as if stained with blood. He staggered to his feet and said, "No, it's impossible."

As he spoke, blood suddenly gushed out of his mouth and nose.

"Boom~~"

Yuwen Yong fell to the ground.

The generals were terrified, but Yuwen Xian reacted the fastest. He rushed forward and helped his brother up. He was so anxious that he almost cried, "Imperial Physician Order! Where is the Imperial Physician Order?!"

A moment later, an imperial physician came running over and began to take his pulse.

Yuwen Xian took a deep breath and looked at everyone, "Everyone, please go to the tent entrance first! Do not leave! Do not speak!"

"Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless!!"

Everyone agreed, and the soldiers took them to the door.

Only Yuwen Xian, Yuchi Jiong, and Gao Jiong were left in the tent.

The imperial physician was busy, and Yuwen Xian looked at Gao Jiong, "What happened?"

"Liu Taozi defeated Da Xizhen, the governor of Yanzhou, and laid siege to Chang'an. I'm afraid Chang'an will be lost!"

"what?!"

Yuwen Xian's reaction was not much better than Yuwen Yong's. He just felt dizzy and tried hard to stay awake.

Chang'an was the core of the empire.

From the crown prince to the officials, to the families of the generals, to the nobles, documents, information, military equipment, and food, it can be said that this is the core of everything.

If Chang'an was destroyed, wouldn't that mean all these things would fall into Liu Taozi's hands?

Liu Taozi captured many ministers and nobles from the Crown Prince down in the Zhou Kingdom, and uncovered all the secrets of the Zhou Kingdom, from military deployment to household registration and cultivated land data, the location of granaries in various places, and the conditions of roads.
“It’s broken, it’s broken, it’s broken.”

(End of this chapter)