Qinzhou City, Xue Mansion Courtyard. A shelf made of wooden poles was erected in an open space. Seven or eight rich people in silk and satin were tied up like rice dumplings and hung upside down on the shelf, with their nostrils pointing upward. Several soldiers held coarse porcelain bowls filled with sour vinegar and poured vinegar into their nostrils.
The rich man who had vinegar poured into his nostrils kept sneezing and vinegar sprayed out of his mouth. Their whole bodies convulsed, their limbs twitched, and they struggled painfully. Some people couldn't stand it any longer and shouted for mercy.
At this moment, there was a person standing next to the wooden frame. He looked to be in his twenties, seven feet eight inches tall, with broad shoulders and a thick back, like an iron tower. This person is Xue Rengao, Xue Ju's eldest son.
Xue Rengao looked at the rich people who were tortured to death with a triumphant smile on his face. His eyes were as unruly as a wolf, and a bit sinister. Seeing that the fire was almost done, Xue Rengao raised his hand. Immediately, soldiers came forward, put the rich people down, and removed the ropes tied to them. The rich people collapsed on the ground like mud, their mouths like fish just fished out of the water, gasping for air.
Xue Rengao walked over, stepped on a person's neck with his foot, and said sternly: "Tell me quickly, are you willing to sign?" The man coughed violently several times, and said in a hoarse voice: "Yes... yes." Xue Rengao put his foot As soon as he moved away, two servants came forward, dragged the rich man up, and dragged him to the front of a table. There was a document on the desk, which stated the amount of donated land, houses, shops, gold, silver and jewelry.
The rich man was shaking like chaff. He dipped his thumb into the clay box and put his fingerprint on the document. After performing the fingerprints, tears were streaming down his face, his body was swaying, and he had to work hard to stand still. He turned around slowly, staggered toward the door with heavy steps.
In this way, the rich people were forced to put down pledges and donate all their wealth, and then they were able to leave the Xue Mansion.
A servant handed a thick stack of documents to Xue Rengao's hand. Xue Rengao took it and looked through it, nodded with satisfaction, handed it to the butler on the side and said, "Bring someone with you tomorrow and deliver all these properties!" The butler took the document and said he obeyed the order.
At this time, a soldier came over, clasped his fists and said, "Prince, Your Majesty, please come to the palace immediately and say that we have something important to discuss." After hearing this, Xue Rengao nodded and said, "I understand." Then, he asked his servants to prepare the horse, then put the stirrup on the horse, left the mansion with a few soldiers, and galloped towards the palace.
The so-called imperial palace is nothing more than a remodeled building from the former county palace. Xue Rengao had an unimpeded journey and arrived in front of a hall. He dismounted, handed the reins to the soldiers, and walked into the hall.
There was a person sitting on the throne at the top of the hall. He is about forty years old, with dark skin, a broad forehead, slender eyes, and a gray beard on his chin. Although he is sitting, you can still see that he is very tall, sitting there like a tiger sitting on a dragon's plate. This person is Xue Ju.
Xue Ju was a native of Fenyang, Hedong (now Wanrong County, Shanxi), and later moved to Jincheng (now Lanzhou, Gansu) with his father Xue Wang. In his youth, Xue Ju was "fierce and good at shooting, unparalleled in martial arts, had a fortune of millions, had many cunning friends, and was the most powerful in Bianshuo". Initially he served as a school captain in Jincheng Prefecture in the Sui Dynasty. In the last years of Emperor Yang's great career in the Sui Dynasty, farmers all over the country revolted one after another. The people in Longxi also rose up against the Sui Dynasty because they were forced by hunger and cold. Jincheng ordered Hao Yuan to recruit more than 3,000 people locally and prepare to send Xue Ju to lead this army to suppress the rebellious hungry people. While Hao Yuan was gathering his troops to "confer armor in the county" and "put out wine to entertain the soldiers," Xue Ju, his son Xue Rengao and thirteen co-conspirators took advantage of his unpreparedness and pretended to "capture the rebels." He kidnapped Hao Yuan on the spot, then sent troops to surrounding counties and counties, arrested and imprisoned all local officials, and opened warehouses to help the poor.
After Xue raised his troops, he called himself the Overlord of the Western Qin Dynasty. At that time, a man named Zong Luohu also rebelled and led the uprising team to defect to Xue Ju. After that, Xue Ju mobilized revolting people from various places, attacked cities and plundered officials, and his team grew stronger and stronger, conquering many places.
In order to maintain his rule, Emperor Sui Yang sent General Huangfu Wan to suppress the rebellion of Xue Ju and others. Huangfu Wan led 10,000 troops to garrison in Huanhan (now Daohe County, Gansu Province). In order to meet the powerful officers and soldiers, Xue Ju selected 2,000 elite soldiers to go into battle. The two armies faced each other at Chi'an and held a stalemate for several days. One day, there was sudden wind and rain, and there was chaos in front of the Sui army. Taking advantage of the favorable situation of favorable wind, Xue Ju rode up first, led all the troops, defeated the Sui army in one go, and occupied Zhenhan.
At this time, Zhong Lisu, the leader of the Qiang people who occupied the Minshan area, and his 20,000 troops, also led his troops to surrender to Xue Ju, and Xue Ju's power became even stronger. Therefore, Xue Ju made his eldest son Xue Rengao the king of Qi and granted him the title of Marshal of the East Road March; he made his second son Xue Renyue the king of Jin and the governor of Hezhou; he made Zong Luohu the king of Yixing. Then, Xue Ju conquered Shan (now Ledu County, Qinghai Province) and Kuo (now Guide County, Qinghai Province) prefectures.
In July of the thirteenth year of Daye (AD 617), Xue Ju officially proclaimed himself emperor in Jincheng, changed his reign name to "Qin Xing", named his wife Ju as queen, and his eldest son Xue Rengao as crown prince. Major repairs were made to ancestral tombs, mausoleums were built, and temples were built in the south of the city. Then, Xue Ju sent Xue Rengao to attack Qinzhou (now Tianshui, Gansu). After Xue Rengao captured Qinzhou, Xue Ju moved his capital to Qinzhou.
At that time, there was also a separatist force led by Tang Bi occupying Kaiyuan (today's Longxian County, Shaanxi Province) with a force of 100,000. Xue Ju designed to disintegrate Tang Bi's army and merged all his subordinates. At this point, Xue Ju basically pacified the Longxi region and had 300,000 troops, becoming a separatist force that could not be ignored in the late Sui Dynasty.
Xue Rengao walked into the hall, walked quickly to the throne, knelt down and saluted, then stood up and said: "Abba, you called me here, why don't you know what happened?" Xue Ju said: "Prince, the spy I sent came back to report, saying Dou Jing, the prefect of Fufeng, recently sent an envoy to Chang'an to surrender to the Tang State. Fufeng County belongs to Longxi and is the territory of the Qin State. How can the Tang State be allowed to interfere? I also sent an envoy to persuade Dou Jing to submit to the Qin State, but he turned a deaf ear. Therefore, I plan to send You lead 30,000 elite troops to seize Fufeng County!" Upon hearing this, Xue Rengao cupped his fists and said, "I will obey the emperor's order!"
The military situation is urgent and there is no need to delay. Early the next morning, Xue Rengao led an army of 30,000 people to leave Qinzhou and headed for Fufeng County (today's Fengyi County, Shaanxi Province).
The army walked for half a day, and when it was almost noon, they stopped to rest beside the official road. The soldiers ate the dry food they carried with them. After Xue Rengao finished eating the dry food, he felt thirsty and wanted to find some water. He looked up and saw a small village in the fields not far away. On a flat land at the head of the village, there were sparse bamboos and green pines, and a farmhouse was hidden in the shade of the trees. Xue Rengao called a few soldiers and led them towards the house.
Xue Rengao walked to the courtyard door and was about to push the firewood door open when the courtyard door opened and a village girl walked out. This village girl looks to be eighteen or nineteen years old. She wears a scarlet scarf on her head and a slanted jacket with white flowers on a blue background. She has a slim figure and fair skin, especially her big eyes, which are very charming.
When the woman saw several wolf-like soldiers standing outside the door, a flash of fear flashed in her eyes. She quickly wanted to close the courtyard door, but Xue Rengao stretched out his foot to block it, so she had to turn around and walk back.
Xue Rengao stared at the woman's figure intently, feeling that she was like a ray of sunshine, making his eyes brighten. There was an uncomfortable commotion in his body, his eyes were red, and he couldn't help but swallow.
Xue Rengao was stunned for a moment, walked into the yard, followed the woman, and shouted: "Little lady, where are you going? I have something to ask you." When the woman saw him catching up, she was frightened. He quickened his pace, walked into a room, and closed the wooden door with a bang.
Just as Xue Rengao was about to go over and knock on the door, a man in his twenties ran out of the hall. He stretched out his arm to stop Xue Rengao and shouted: "Master Jun, what do you want to do? Tell me what you have to say."
Xue Rengao withdrew his gaze and looked at the young man. The young man was a head shorter than him. He looked up at him with a flattering smile on his face. Xue Rengao's eyes became ferocious, and without saying a word, he drew out his sword and stabbed the opponent in the stomach. A flash of horror flashed in the young man's eyes, and the smile on his face disappeared, turning into extreme anger. Then, he vomited blood, swayed twice, and finally fell to the ground.
Xue Rengao rubbed the sword on the corpse, wiped off the blood on it, and then returned the sword to its sheath. Then, he walked to the house with thumping steps and kicked open the wooden door. In the house, the woman was curled up on the bedside, like a grass in the strong wind, shivering all over. Looking at the beauty in front of him, Xue Rengao felt a burning desire and pounced on her like a hungry tiger...
In the yard, several soldiers took advantage of Xue Rengao's troubles in the house, rushed into other rooms, and robbed everything of food and valuables. Then they returned to the yard, stood next to the body and ate their loot with peace of mind.
Half an hour later, Xue Rengao came out of the house with satisfaction. While tying his belt, he muttered: "These girls are not bad, so I'll give them to you." When the soldiers heard this, they immediately rushed in. room……
Xue Rengao was tall and powerful, good at riding and shooting, and was known as the enemy of ten thousand people in the army. However, he was greedy, cruel and murderous by nature, and often subjected prisoners to tortures such as cutting off tongues, cutting off noses, and beating bodies. Xue Rengao once captured Geng Li, the son of the famous writer Yu Xin. He was angry because he refused to surrender. He cut Yu Li's body on the fire and cut off the flesh bit by bit for the soldiers to eat.
Xue Rengao had a cold and domineering personality and was not good at caring for soldiers. His subordinates all respected him. Xue Ju once admonished him: "With your talent and strategy, you can accomplish things, but by nature you are harsh and cruel, and you cannot be kind to others. You will eventually overthrow my home and country!"
