Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 462: No Place for Skills

Jiangling.

Chunyu Liang, his son and many generals stood outside the east city gate.

The generals stood straight with smiles on their faces.

Even those who had come here to get gilded originally now looked like decent human beings. After all, they had gotten the gilding. They had originally wanted to come here to gain military merit, but they were forced by Chunyu Liang to fight to the death, and they actually took down Jiangling. So the gilding became extremely valuable.

Those who did not have time to escape and were captured stood farther away, with soldiers watching them.

Xiao Mohe stood at the front position.

The big guy changed into a set of armor and finally a smile appeared on his face.

In the Battle of Jiangling, Xiao Mohe made the greatest contribution.

A few years ago, Xiao Mohe was just a fighting general, but now, he can command the army to break into the city, instead of just putting on armor and leading the charge himself.

Xiao Mohe led 3,000 soldiers and first broke through the outer city of Jiangling. Then he commanded the troops on two fronts to seize the city first. He went a long way on his way to becoming a great general.

Now Jiankang has sent angels to reward the generals. As the first meritorious person, Xiao Mohe will naturally stand at the forefront.

Chunyu Liang stared into the distance dimly, with little joy on his face.

Xiao Mohe asked in a low voice: "General, if I write to His Majesty and ask for General Huang's pardon for his contribution in this battle, will His Majesty agree to my request?"

Chun Yuliang's calm expression finally showed some emotion. He looked at the young man beside him for a long time before asking, "Are you related to General Huang?"

"It's not that we are related, but I know what kind of person General Huang is, and I really don't want to see him end up like this. Now I want to break into the city and make achievements. Do you think it's possible, General?"

Chunyu Liang shook his head slightly.

"Absolutely not."

"If you say that, not only will you fail to pardon Huang Fachu, but you will also cost him his life."

"The generals in the army did not think of receiving rewards from the emperor for their meritorious service, but wanted to pardon the guilty generals. I am afraid that as soon as your words arrived in Jiankang, General Huang would fall ill and die at home that day."

"What. This."

Chunyu Liang heard Xiao Mohe cursing in a low voice. However, Xiao Mohe spoke in the Shixing dialect, which Chunyu Liang, a native of Jiankang, could not understand very well. The southern accent was mixed and numerous. Not to mention the two counties, even the two counties might not be understood. Although he could not understand, Chunyu Liang knew that it was probably not a good thing to say.

After waiting for a long time, finally, their own troops appeared in the distance and slowly came towards here.

It really was the emperor's scepter, and the team was huge, with more than a thousand soldiers leading the way in front and behind. The scale of the procession stunned everyone who came to greet them.

The emperor's travels are just like this, right? Who is coming? ?

Chunyu Liang was not surprised.

Soon, they saw the angel holding the emperor's scepter, who was none other than Zhang Zhaoda, the Shizhong and General of the Southern Expedition.

The generals bowed and greeted him.

Chunyu Liang's reaction was very calm, and he was not too afraid of the other party.

Zhang Zhaoda was very enthusiastic. This general was always famous for his unrestrained and enthusiastic manner. He congratulated the soldiers on taking Jiangling, and then said that the emperor had issued rewards and everyone would receive credit.

He did not talk to Chunyu Liang first, but greeted these people first.

Although everyone was surprised, they didn't think much about it.

Zhang Zhaoda and his entourage of soldiers entered the city.

Chunyu Liang praised the merits of his subordinates one by one. Although a written document praising their merits had already been sent out, he still had to continue to show what he should do.

After handing over local document secrets, captives, maps, etc., Zhang Zhaoda formally issued a reward to everyone in the government office.

But what was strange was that Chunyu Liang was not included in the rewards. However, the other generals and soldiers did receive great rewards.

Xiao Mohe, this young and inexperienced man, was promoted directly to the rank of General Pingnan, and jumped from a general of miscellaneous rank to Siping. Moreover, Siping in Chen State has always been a transition to the Four Towns. Once one reaches the Four Towns, he is basically the top general in the country.

The rest of the people also received great rewards, and some were promoted three or four levels.

Everyone cheered and expressed their gratitude.

Seeing that the atmosphere was becoming heated, Zhang Zhaoda looked at Chunyu Liang.

"The one who made the greatest contribution this time is Lord Chunyu. Your Majesty should personally reward him."

"Since the battle in Jiangling is over, please return to Jiankang and meet me in person. Then I will be in charge of the defense of Jiangling for the time being."

As soon as Zhang Zhaoda said this, the joy on many people's faces suddenly froze.

This is the case with Xiao Mohe.

If it were him in the past, he might not understand the deep meaning of this sentence, but it is different now. After seeing what happened to Huang Fachi and others, Xiao Mohe has a clearer view of things.

Go back to claim the reward? ?
What's the point?
I have never heard of a general who, after making a contribution, had to go back to see the emperor to receive his reward.

Generally speaking, an imperial decree would be issued directly to confer rewards, and the emperor would return to express his gratitude after the matter was done.

Besides, why does it take a general with so many soldiers to come and confer rewards?

Thinking of Chunyu Liang's previous behavior of disobeying the imperial edict, everyone immediately understood.

Chun Yuliang stood up and nodded, "Okay, I'll trouble you, General Zhang."

Zhang Zhaoda laughed.

"No problem."

Chunyu Liang suddenly asked, "There is only one thing I want to ask the general."

"General Chunyu, please speak."

"My contributions are so great that I need to be rewarded by Your Majesty personally. Why didn't my son Chunyu Cen receive any reward?"

"Could it be that he has also made great contributions and needs to be rewarded as well?"

Zhang Zhaoda's expression remained unchanged. "I heard that Chunyu Cen fought bravely, and that the father and son attacked the city together. It is truly a great story. Your Majesty should reward them together."

"That's it, okay."

Chunyu Liang didn't say anything more.

Zhang Zhaoda started the banquet and rewarded the generals on behalf of the emperor.

The next day, Chunyu Liang just got up and went out, and he saw many armored soldiers outside the door.

There was a young officer standing in front of him with a solemn look on his face.

Chunyu Liang was not panicked. He acted as if nothing had happened, changed his clothes, washed up, and ate his meal.

While they were busy, Zhang Zhaoda arrived as expected.

Zhang Zhaoda had a helpless look on his face. Seeing Chunyu Liang concentrating on eating, he didn't say much. He sat not far away and waited for him to finish eating.

Chunyu Liang was full and looked at Zhang Zhaoda.

"General, are you going to imprison me?"

"When Duke Chunyu was in Jiankang, did he buy wood from Xiao Jiqing, the King of Jiangyin?"

Chun Yuliang pondered for a moment and said, "That's true."

"The wood you and Xiao Jiqing bought was from the trees in the Mausoleum of Emperor Liang!!"

"How could you do such a thing?!"

"As a subject, can you rob the emperor's tomb?!"

Chun Yuliang smiled and said, "As a son, I can rob the inner and outer tombs of Jiankang. I just bought some wood. So what?"

Zhang Zhaoda was speechless for a moment, then asked, "Duke Chunyu led his troops to attack Jiangling, why did he disobey the imperial order?"

"I think the general knows why I disobeyed the imperial edict. His Majesty changed his orders every day, and we missed the chance to take Jiangling many times. If I hadn't taken it, I'm afraid we would never have another chance in the future. Can you say this is wrong?"

Zhang Zhaoda shook his head. "Disobeying the imperial order is a mistake."

"Your Majesty cannot bear to humiliate the old general in front of the other generals. Please get in the car quickly, Lord Chunyu. I will send someone to escort you to Jiankang. When the time comes, you can explain to Your Majesty in person."

Zhang Zhaoda looked outside the door and quickly saw an officer walk in, eager to try.

Chunyu Liang looked at the other person coldly, was silent for a moment, and then stood up.

"Then let's get going."

Zhang Zhaoda had already prepared the carriage, and Chunyu Liang and his son were put into the carriage, and then "escorted" to Jiankang by more than 600 soldiers.

All of this was done in a relatively secretive manner, for fear that the generals close to him might cause trouble.

The group left the city early. Sitting in the car, Chun Yucen was not so panicked. He gradually understood his father's thoughts.

No wonder you said you had to wait, it turns out you were waiting for this.

However, the two did not talk much and just let the carriage slowly carry them away.

Listening to the sound of armor colliding outside, Chun Yu Cen even found it a little funny.

There were not many armored soldiers in the State of Chen, and due to the problem of iron production, the armor-wearing rate was very low. Under such circumstances, the emperor was still able to gather so many armored soldiers to escort himself. If these armored soldiers had arrived earlier, perhaps many people would have died less during the attack on Jiangling.

Chun Yucen thought silently in his heart.

The carriage travelled for several days, with breaks taken throughout the journey.

The journey from Jingbei to Jiangdong is not short at all.

On this day, the carriage was driving as usual, when suddenly, shouts and screams were heard everywhere and the carriage stopped abruptly. Chun Yu Cen was shocked, and before he could ask anything, Chun Yu Liang rushed out of the carriage, so Chun Yu Cen had to follow him out.

Chun Yu Cen rushed out of the car and saw two forces fighting.

One of them was the soldiers who had escorted him, and the other was his father's old subordinates! They were all familiar faces, hundreds of them!
The fighting between the two sides was fierce. Although the escorting soldiers were wearing armor, they could not withstand Chunyu Liang's old subordinates, who were all veteran soldiers in the army. They were experienced and brave. They were by no means comparable to these guys who usually stood guard and acted as the facade. They were all tall and armed with sharp weapons, but they had no experience in facing such a sudden attack. They were extremely confused and their coordination was also very problematic.

As soon as Chunyu Liang got out of the car, the young officer stood in front of him with a knife.

The man stared at Chunyu Liang with a ferocious look, raised the knife in his hand, pointed it at Chunyu Liang, and shouted loudly: "Is this your man? Are you planning a rebellion?!"

Before he could finish, Chunyu Liang became furious.

"Who the hell are you to use a knife against me?!"

Before the other party could answer, Chunyu Liang approached first, grabbed the other party's wrist with both hands, and with just a little force, the officer screamed, and the knife fell. Chunyu Liang tripped the man to the ground, picked up the knife on the ground, and slashed the man's neck, blood splattering everywhere.

Chun Yuliang looked around, raised the knife in his hand, and roared: "I don't want to kill my colleagues! Those who don't want to die, run away! !"

The soldiers were all frightened. After all, Chunyu Liang was famous and had just taken Jiangling, so his momentum was strong. Some of them began to flee, and then the soldiers followed them. Chunyu Liang's men took the opportunity to kill Chunyu Liang, took him and Chunyu Cen, and quickly fled from there.

They prepared horses in advance, and Chunyu Liang led the group and quickly disappeared on the road.

They traveled all night long and didn't know how long they had been running until the horses under them couldn't take it anymore and fell down. Only then did they stop to rest.

It was not until this time that Chunyu Liang began to speak to everyone.

Chun Yu Cen said nothing, just listened silently.

It was not until his father had arranged the sentry post and was preparing to eat that Chun Yucen asked, "Father, when did you come?"

"When I asked you to select elite troops, I deployed some of the old brothers to the checkpoints outside the city."

"I contacted them every day and told them that if I suddenly lost contact one day, they should go back to Jiankang to save me."

Chunyu Liang ate the meat in his hand with a very cold expression.

"I didn't expect Zhang Zhaoda to act so quickly. It was almost too late."

"Now, we can legitimately join the Heavenly King. We have made great contributions to the country, but were slandered by villains and were about to be punished. We had no choice but to flee and join the wise leader."

Chun Yucen took a deep breath and said, "No wonder my father kept asking me to wait. It turns out he was waiting for this!"

"However, how does father know that the emperor will definitely do this? If he pardons your crime."

Chunyu Liang paused and said slowly: "If he doesn't care about my disobeying the imperial edict, then why should we do such a thing?"

"I am not a mean person who covets wealth and fame."

"If the emperor is willing to trust me and listen to my advice, then I am willing to assist him in building his great cause."

"But he is not like that. He is not good at judging people and is jealous of others' talents. How can you achieve merit by following such a person? You always have to find ways to protect yourself. And the matter of the wood was not arranged by me at all. It seems that even if I don't disobey the imperial edict, I will still be punished for this matter. The king of heaven can let Wang Lin guard one side, but our man would rather believe his son and nephew who are doing evil than trust us at all."

The group traveled on the road for several days.

When they arrived near Gwangcheng County exhausted, they were still found by pursuers.

They did not have many horses, and their war horses were damaged in their haste to escape. Although they traveled all night, they were still unable to outrun Zhang Zhaoda's light cavalry.

Zhang Zhaoda was shocked when he learned of Chunyu Liang's defection, but he dared not make it public. He could not send others to pursue him, so he had to go into battle himself. He guessed that Chunyu Liang would definitely flee to the north, so he sent his trusted men to lead light cavalry to various places to intercept him, and he himself also led many light cavalry to pursue him.

Finally, on a small road outside Guangcheng County, some cavalry discovered Chunyu Liang's whereabouts.

Zhang Zhaoda quickly gave chase and soon discovered Chunyu Liang and his gang.

After discovering that he was being caught up, Chunyu Liang did not panic. He led his men into the mountain road, took advantage of the high ground, prepared bows and crossbows, and prepared for battle.

Zhang Zhaoda and others dismounted and confronted Chunyu Liang and his men from a distance.

"General Chunyu!! Why is this happening?!"

Zhang Zhaoda asked loudly: "His Majesty asked you to return to Jiankang not to punish you, but just to listen to your explanation. Your current behavior has aggravated your crime, hasn't it?!"

Chun Yuliang answered in a louder voice: "What crime do I have to explain?"

"I have just made great contributions and captured Jiangling, but Your Majesty wants to punish me because of the slander of a villain. You are punishing me for my merits without rewarding me. Are you not allowing me to leave now?"

"General! Huang Fachu was feared because of his meritorious service. Now I am the one who is being arrested and questioned. Won't you be the next one? General, why don't you come with me and leave!"

Zhang Zhaoda was furious, "How dare I rebel when I am paid by the emperor?!"

Chun Yuliang asked back, "I heard that General Zhang is a close friend of Emperor Wen! Emperor Wen entrusted his family to him! I wonder where Crown Prince Chen Bozong is?!"

Zhang Zhaoda's face changed drastically and he was unable to speak again.

He looked around, "Capture him alive!!"

The warriors raised their shields and began to move forward.

Chunyu Liang did not tolerate this and directly ordered them to be shot.

The two sides started fighting directly. Chunyu Liang stood in the front and shot and killed three warriors with his bow several times. The warriors were so scared that they dared not move forward.

Zhang Zhaoda personally held the shield and led the warriors to charge, and only then were they able to get in front of the enemy.

Zhang Zhaoda had a large number of men, and their numbers were still increasing. Chunyu Liang was extremely brave and no one could stop him in the fighting. However, the old soldiers on his left and right were killed tragically, and their numbers were constantly decreasing.

Just as the two sides were fighting, the sound of heavy horse hooves suddenly came from a distance.

Zhang Zhaoda's face changed drastically.

The next moment, fully armed Han heavy cavalry appeared on the distant path.

"Gao Yanzong is here! Who dares to violate my border?!"

Zhang Zhaoda did not dare to delay any longer. Considering the current relationship between the two sides, he was even more afraid that Chunyu Liang and Gao Yanzong would capture him, so he quickly retreated.

Chunyu Liang did not pursue him any further.

The Chen people fled quickly, but Gao Yanzong looked in the direction of Chunyu Liang.

He looked for a moment, then recognized the other person's identity.

"Chun Yuliang??"

Chunyu Liang, supported by his son, walked quickly to Gao Yanzong and bowed to greet him.

"Chun Yuliang pays his respects to General Gao!"

Gao Yanzong jumped off his horse and asked, "General, why are you doing this? What's going on? Why are you escaping here?"

"Alas, I disobeyed the imperial order and captured Jiangling, for which I was convicted. The emperor wanted to arrest me and send me to Jiankang for punishment. My old brothers rescued me. I didn't want to see them die with me, so I brought them to the Heavenly King. If the general hadn't come in time, I'm afraid we would have died at the hands of Zhang Zhaoda."

"what?!"

"I said it at the time, this Master Chen is really stupid and incompetent!"

Gao Yanzong snorted coldly, "Old General, please wait here for a while. I will be back soon."

Chun Yuliang was horrified, "What does General Gao want to do?!"

"I'm going to capture that Zhang Zhaoda!!"

"General Gao! No! Chen and Han are still allies. How can you capture the general of Chen?"

Gao Yanzong felt helpless and angry.

Why can't I find a chance to display my bravery?
My elder brother was the first to capture Chang'an and captured countless dukes and princes. He suddenly surpassed Hulugu and became the number one. When will I be able to accomplish such a great feat?

"Okay, let's talk about it later. Let's go back first!!"

"We will capture him sooner or later!!"

(End of this chapter)