Qinzhou City, Xue Mansion Courtyard. In a clearing, a shelf made of wooden poles was erected, and seven or eight rich men dressed in silk were tied up like rice dumplings and hung upside down from the shelves, nostrils facing the sky. Several soldiers carried porcelain bowls with sour vinegar in their hands and poured vinegar into their nostrils.

The rich man whose nostrils were filled with vinegar kept sneezing, and vinegar squirted out of his mouth. They were spasmed, their hands and feet twitching, and they struggled in pain. Some people really couldn't stand it anymore 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, the eldest son of Xue Ju.

Xue Rengao looked at the rich people who had been tortured to death, and a triumphant smile appeared on his face. His eyes were as unruly as a wolf, and there was a bit of viciousness. Xue Rengao saw that the heat was almost over, so he raised his hand. Immediately a soldier stepped forward, lowered the rich man, and untied the ropes that bound him. One by one, the rich men collapsed to the ground like mud, their mouths like fish freshly fished out of the water, panting for breath.

Xue Rengao walked over, stepped on a person's neck with his foot, and said sharply: "Say it quickly, would you like to draw a charge?" The man coughed violently a few times and said in a hoarse voice, "Wish... Willing. Xue Rengao moved his foot away, and immediately two servants stepped forward and dragged the rich man up and in front of a desk. On the desk was a document with the number of donations to the farms, shops, gold, silver and jewelry.

The rich man trembled like chaff, dipped his thumb in the clay box, and then pressed his handprint on the paperwork. After pressing the mudra, he was already in tears, his body was shaking, and he had to struggle to stand firm. He turned slowly, shuffling towards the gate with heavy footsteps.

In this way, those rich people were forced to paint one by one and donate all their net worth, so that they could leave the Xue Mansion.

A servant handed a thick stack of documents to Xue Rengao's hand. Xue Rengao took it and looked at it, nodded with satisfaction, and handed it to the housekeeper on the side and said, "You bring someone tomorrow and hand over all these belongings!" The steward took the paperwork and said he obeyed.

At this time, a personal soldier came over, hugged his fists and said: "Prince, the emperor invites you to enter the palace immediately, saying that there is something important to discuss." Xue Rengao listened, nodded, and said I know. Then he had his servants prepare his horses, mounted them in stirrups, and left the mansion with a few of his own soldiers, and galloped towards the palace.

The so-called Imperial Palace is nothing more than a renovation of the former county government. Xue Rengao went all the way unimpeded, came to the front of a hall, turned over and dismounted, handed the reins to his soldiers, and then walked into the hall.

At the head of the hall sat a man. He was about forty years old, with dark skin, a broad forehead, slender eyes, and a gray beard on his chin. Although he was sitting, he could still see that he was very tall, sitting there like a tiger on a dragon plate, this person was 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. When he was young, Xue Ju was "fierce and good at shooting, superb in martial arts, with a huge family property, and a strong and cunning relationship, and strong in Bian Shuo". Initially, he served as a lieutenant in the Jincheng Mansion of the Sui Dynasty. In the last years of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, peasants from all over the country revolted, and the people in Longxi were forced by hunger and cold, and they also rose up against Sui. Jincheng ordered Hao Ying to recruit more than 3,000 people in the local area, and prepared to send Xue Ju to lead this army to suppress the rebellious starving people. Just as Hao Ying gathered his team to "confer armor in the county" and "put wine for the feast", Xue Ju, his son Xue Rengao and thirteen conspirators, taking advantage of his unpreparedness, pretended to "arrest the rebels", abducted Hao Ying on the spot, and then sent troops to the surrounding counties to arrest and imprison all the local officials and open warehouses to help the poor.

After Xue raised his troops, he proclaimed himself the overlord of Western Qin. At that time, there was a man named Zong Luohu, who also unveiled the uprising and led the uprising team to join Xue Ju. After that, Xue Ju gathered the masses of uprisings from all over the country, attacked the city and plundered the officials, and the team grew stronger and stronger, capturing many places.

In order to maintain his rule, Emperor Yang of Sui sent the general Huangfu Ju to suppress the rebellion of Xue Ju and others. Huangfu led an army of 10,000 troops to garrison Huhan (now Daohe County, Gansu). In order to meet the strong officers and soldiers, Xue Ju selected 2,000 elite soldiers to fight. The two armies faced each other at Chi'an and held each other for several days. One day, suddenly there was a mixture of wind and rain, and there was chaos in front of the Sui army, Xue Ju took advantage of the favorable situation of the tailwind, rode his horse first, led the army, defeated the Sui army, and occupied Huhan.

At this time, Zhong Lishu, the leader of the Qiang nationality who occupied the Minshan area, had 20,000 troops, and also led the army to surrender to Xue Ju, and Xue Ju's power was even stronger. As a result, Xue Jufeng made his eldest son Xue Rengao the king of Qi and awarded the title of marshal of the march of the eastern road; Feng's second son, Xue Renyue, was the king of Jin and the assassin of Hezhou; Feng Zong Rahu is the king of Yixing. Then, Xue Ju conquered the two prefectures of Shanxi (present-day Ledu County, Qinghai Province) and Kuo (present-day Guide County, Qinghai Province).

In July of the thirteenth year of the Great Cause (617 AD), Xue Ju officially proclaimed himself emperor in Jincheng, changed the name of the year to "Qin Xing", named his wife Ju as the queen, and his eldest son Xue Rengao as the crown prince. Overhaul the ancestral tomb, purchase the mausoleum, and set up a temple in the south of the city. Next, Xue Ju sent Xue Rengao to attack Qinzhou (present-day Tianshui, Gansu). After Xue Rengao captured Qinzhou, Xue Ju moved the capital to Qinzhou.

At that time, there was also a separatist force led by Tang Bi who occupied Kaiyuan (now Longxian County, Shaanxi), with 100,000 troops. Xue Ju planned to disintegrate Tang Bi's army and annex all of his subordinates. At this point, Xue Ju basically pacified the Longxi region, with 300,000 troops, and became a separatist force that could not be ignored in the last years of the Sui Dynasty.

Xue Rengao walked into the hall, walked quickly to the throne, knelt down and saluted, and then stood up and said, "Abba, you called your sons to come, I don't know what happened?" Xue Ju said: "Prince, the fine work I sent came back to report that Fufeng Taishou Dou Jin sent an envoy to Chang'an a few days ago to surrender to the Tang Kingdom. Fufeng County belongs to Longxi, which is the territory of the Qin State, how can the Tang State be allowed to get involved? I also sent an envoy to persuade Dou Jin to return to Qin, but he turned a deaf ear. Therefore, I plan to send you with 30,000 elite soldiers to capture Fufeng County! When Xue Rengao heard this, he clenched his fists and said, "Erchen obeys the emperor's orders!" ”

The military situation is urgent and urgent. Early the next morning, Xue Rengao left Qinzhou with an army of 30,000 and headed for Fufeng County (now Fengyi County, Shaanxi).

The army walked for half a day, and when it was almost noon, they stopped to rest next to the official road, and the soldiers ate the dry rations they carried with them. After Xue Rengao finished eating the dry food, he felt thirsty and wanted to find some water to drink. He looked up and saw a small village in the middle of the field not far away, and on the flat land at the head of the village, sparse bamboo and green trees, lush trees and pines, and a farmhouse in the shade of trees. Xue Rengao called a few personal soldiers and led them towards the house.

Xue Rengao walked to the door of the courtyard, and was about to push open the firewood, but the door of the courtyard was opened, and a village girl came out of it. The village girl looked to be eighteen or nineteen years old, with a scarlet turban wrapped around her head and a sque gown with white flowers on a blue background. She has a slender figure and fair skin, especially the pair of big eyes, which are extremely charming.

The woman saw several wolf-like soldiers standing outside the door, a trace of horror flashed in her eyes, and she hurriedly wanted to close the courtyard door, but was blocked by Xue Rengao's outstretched foot, so she had to turn around and walk back.

Xue Rengao stared intently at the woman's figure, feeling that she was like a ray of sunshine, which made his eyes shine. There was an unbearable stir in his body, his eyes were red, and he couldn't help but swallow and spat at the mouth.

Xue Rengao was stunned for a moment, walked into the courtyard, followed the woman, and shouted, "Little lady, where are you going?" I have something to ask you. When the woman saw him coming after her, she quickened her pace in fright, entered a room, and closed the wooden door with a bang.

Xue Rengao was about to walk over and knock on the door, when a man in his twenties ran out of the hall. He stretched out his arm and stopped in front of Xue Rengao and shouted, "Master Jun, what are you going to do?" Tell me something. ”

Xue Rengao retracted his gaze and looked at the young man. The young man, who was a head shorter than him, looked up at him with a flattering smile on his face. Xue Rengao's gaze became ferocious, and without saying a word, he pulled out his saber with a "brush", and stabbed the other party's stomach with a sword. A hint of horror flashed in the young man's eyes, and the smile on his face disappeared into extreme resentment. Then, foaming at the mouth, he shook his body twice, and finally fell to the ground.

Xue Rengao rubbed the sword against the corpse, wiped the blood from it, and then returned the sword into the sheath. Then he staggered to the room and kicked open the wooden door. Inside, the woman was curled up at the head of the bed, like a small grass in the wind, shivering. Looking at the beauty in front of him, Xue Rengao only felt that he was burning with desire, and pounced on him like a hungry tiger......

In the courtyard, several personal soldiers took advantage of Xue Rengao's tossing in the house to rush into other rooms and loot all the food and valuable things. Then, they returned to the courtyard and stood next to the corpse, eating the loot with peace of mind.

Half an hour later, Xue Rengao came out of the house satisfied, muttering while wearing his belt: "This girl is not bad, I will reward you." When the soldiers heard this, they immediately rushed into the house......

Xue Rengao is burly, powerful, good at riding and shooting, and is known as the enemy of 10,000 people in the army. However, he was greedy, cruel and murderous by nature, and often tortured his captives by cutting off their tongues, cutting off their noses, and beheading. Xue Rengao once captured Gengli, the son of the famous writer Yu Xin, and was angry because he refused to surrender, so he actually divided Yu Li's body on the fire, and then cut off the meat little by little for the soldiers to eat.

Xue Rengao has a cold and domineering personality, and he is not good at caring for soldiers, and his subordinates respect him. Xue Ju once admonished him: "With your talent and strategy, you are enough to accomplish things, but you are harsh and cruel by nature, and you cannot show kindness to people, and you will eventually overthrow my home and country!" ”