Datang: Ten Years of Proton, Leading an Army of Millions to Return

"Taishu Cui, don't blame yourself too much. The most important thing now is how to protect the safety of the people and completely drive the Tanjie out," Xin Qiji said, "Let's go to your house first and discuss it in detail."

The group walked into the study of the Cui Mansion, and the servants tactfully withdrew.

Xin Qiji chose a seat and sat down. After making sure that there were no other people around to disturb him, he changed his expression and said seriously:
"Master Cui, to be honest, I encountered Xie Ji's army on the way here. After fighting with him, I found that the strength of Yang Ji's army is not very strong."

"I am very confused. The borders of our Great Yan have always been heavily guarded, and the people in the north are also very tough. How could a group of weak bandits harass the people for so long? Didn't your governor's office organize the military and civilians to resist?"

Governor Cui sighed deeply: "General, you don't know, it's not that I don't want to protect the people, but I have the will but not the strength!"

"Oh, what do you mean?" Xin Qiji said, "I don't understand. Protecting the property and safety of the people of Great Yan is our duty. Great Yan has countless strong cities and many garrisons here. How did Yang Jie get past our defenses and plunder the people's supplies?"

"General Xin, you may not know that although this place belongs to the northern border of our Great Yan, we are not as wealthy as Yanyun City after all. Due to insufficient funds, except for important cities, many small cities are not particularly strong. Yangjie also mainly plunders in remote areas."

Governor Cui frowned, "…and because our Great Yan has been peaceful and prosperous in recent years, many people in our Great Yan have gone to do business with Yang Jie. The trade routes are where Yang Jie mainly plunders, but some trade routes are not completely under the jurisdiction of our Great Yan."

"I see. However, this is not the first time that Han Ji has committed a crime. As the governor, why can't you organize the military and civilians to catch them where they commit crimes?"

"That's what I thought," Governor Cui sighed. "Local people all call the Tartars bandits, and there's a reason for that. First of all, they all ride fast horses, and after plundering the people's supplies, they disappear without a trace, leaving us no trace at all."

"At the same time, when looting property, they often control the people. Once we try to capture them, they will use the lives of the people to force us to retreat."

"Moreover, the terrain here is extremely complex, and there are many tall mountains and forests that are rarely visited. Once they go in, we will have no trace to follow. I am limited in my ability and there is really nothing I can do."

"What you said does make some sense, but every vicious bandit must have his lair," Xin Qiji asked in confusion, "The Tatars let my Great Yan go, and they were in the wrong first. Why didn't the governor think of asking the court to send troops to completely destroy them?"

"The situation inside Xieji is complicated. Although they are united on the surface, according to my humble servant, they have at least seven relatively independent tribes," Governor Cui spread out a map.

"They include seven major tribes: Sumo, Baishan, Boduo, Anchegu, Fushiyehaoshi, and Heishui. Each of them has its own interests, but their attitudes are more or less intentional."
Governor Cui pointed to the map and said, "Based on my experience over the years, the three tribes that most often come to harass the people are Sumo, Baishan, and Anchegu."

"It's normal for there to be many tribes in a wild place," Xin Qiji nodded, "But what does this have to do with them going south and robbing the people's supplies?"

"That's where the problem lies," said Governor Cui.

"Among these tribes, some are usually law-abiding because they are afraid of the prestige of the Tang Dynasty, while some tribal leaders harbor evil intentions and go south from time to time to get some benefits. And because of the severe snow disaster this year, the already restless tribes have become even more unruly, and those who used to be submissive have also started to make small moves."

"My Great Yan is now strong and powerful, and the four seas are subservient to me. Don't they have any fear in their hearts?" Xin Qiji asked doubtfully, "Grandmaster Cui, can you warn these tribes and let them know the consequences of offending my Great Yan?"

"At first, I also wanted to resolve the issue through negotiation. But among the seven tribes, Sumo and Baishan often rely on their advantage in occupying the trade routes to suddenly send out troops from time to time to rob the people of their supplies."

"But because the two major tribes have hatred for each other, when they were held accountable in Xiaguan, they pushed the crimes they committed onto the hostile tribe. But sometimes the tribes would cover up for each other for some interests, which made communication and negotiation between us and Tartar extremely difficult."

"In this case, negotiations will definitely not work," Xin Qiji clenched his fists.
"Since the Tartars have invaded the people of Great Yan and still refuse to repent, why didn't the governor send troops to destroy them earlier?"

"I have thought about gathering the military and civilians to wipe out those bandits, but if we don't have sufficient evidence to prove which tribe is invading from the south, our Great Yan army will be left with nothing to show for it."

"Besides, although the seven tribes are independent of each other, I am also worried that if I act too hastily, they will unite and fight against the Tang Dynasty. I cannot bear the responsibility for this."

"How long have the Jie tribes been harassing the people?" Xin Qiji asked.

"Originally, Yang Jie was afraid of the reputation of Dayan, so they didn't dare to make any big moves."

"It's just that this winter was too cold, and the Yangjie tribes, especially the Anchegu, had no food harvest. That's why they became disloyal and even crazier. I really have no other choice, so I submitted a petition to the court for help."

"Their Yangjie tribe suffered a disaster and they have no food to eat, but this is not a reason to invade our Great Yan," Xin Qiji snorted coldly.
"Since my army has arrived here, I can still give some opportunities to those Hanjie tribes who are willing to surrender. As for the rest, I can only crush them."

"Report," an officer rushed into the study and knelt down in front of Governor Cui, but when he saw Xin Qiji and the deputy general beside him, he seemed to be hesitant to speak.

"This is General Xin from our Great Yan. What is there to worry about?" said Governor Cui. "Report anything that happens."

"Yes, sir. I have already delivered the peace letter to the various tribes of Tanjie as you ordered. But most of them did not respond. The leader of the Anchegu tribe even tore up your letter and drove me out."

"Moreover, they also shouted that the people of Dayan are all cowards, and asked us to prepare the food and land so that they can come and take it."

"Hahaha, they are so anxious to commit suicide. I, Xin Qiji, will never let them down," Xin Qiji waved his hand to let the soldier retreat.
"If you have any opinions on the elimination of the Tan Jie, please feel free to speak your mind."

"I think," Vice General Zhang suggested, "the situation of Su Jie is complicated. If our army takes the initiative to attack, it will inevitably suffer losses. It is better for us to strike back and maybe we can wait for the enemy to tire themselves out."

"Oh," Xin Qiji asked curiously, "if you have any ideas, just tell me directly."

"Yes, I don't think that the reason why the Tartar dared to be so rampant is because of this."

"First, they expected that in heavy snow, our army would have difficulty moving. Second, they relied on the advantages of the mountains. Once we attacked them, they could use the cavalry to take advantage of the terrain and escape immediately."

Deputy General Zhang pointed to the map and said,
"And no matter what we encountered on the road or what Governor Cui said, most of what we encountered were harassment from small groups of troops. It is meaningless to get entangled with these small groups of troops. We must find a way to make them gather on their own initiative, and then completely destroy them." "Well, that's what I meant," Xin Qiji said with a smile, "Since these Xie Ji are so rampant, we must find a way to make them more rampant. As the saying goes, arrogant soldiers will be defeated. In that case, it will be much easier to deal with them."

"Taishu Cui," Xin Qiji suddenly asked, "how have you been dealing with Han Jie and his men these days?"

Governor Cui showed a look of shame on his face: "This is because my ability is limited. Not only have I made no progress, but I have also been teased by them all the time."

"Okay, that's easy now," Xin Qiji clapped his hands, "Within three days, I want you to find another way to let the Tanjies take advantage of us a few more times."

………………

One day later, at the city gate.

"Make way, make way," several Dayan soldiers, holding notices in their hands, kept waving at the crowd.

Although Han Ji has been quite rampant recently, he definitely doesn't dare to invade such a densely populated large city protected by many officers and soldiers.

So although this year was not as lively as in previous years, several officers and soldiers took great pains to disperse the crowd and posted a notice in a blank space.

When the people saw the notice, some cheered, while others sighed.

"Hey, brother," a man with a rat-like beard squeezed to the front, glanced at the content of the notice, and then smiled and asked the person next to him:

"Brother, what does it say on the notice?"

"Why," the man next to him asked in confusion, "can't you read?"

"My family was poor when I was little, and I didn't go to school for many days, so I don't recognize many of the words on it," the man with a rat-like beard frowned.
"But I don't understand why some people are smiling while others are frowning when they see this notice?"

"Oh, so that's it," the person next to him pointed at the notice and said, "It says that the court has sent troops to protect us, and they are stationed outside the city. We can run the market with peace of mind and do business on the Shangdao Road in the future."
"Oh, so this is what the notice says. This is a good thing for us, the people," the man with the rat beard said, but his expression was not very happy.

"Then why do some people still sigh?"

"Good news! Since the beginning of winter, the Yang Jie have been coming south from time to time to rob us. We, the common people, have long been fed up with them and have long hoped that the court would send troops to catch them all in one fell swoop."

The man next to him sighed deeply, "But it was stated in the high order that the army could not move forward due to the heavy snow blocking the mountain. That's why only a small number of vanguard troops were stationed outside the city, with a total of only about a thousand people."

"Oh, so that's how it is," the man with the rat beard suddenly realized.

"But our Great Yan army is invincible. These 1,000 people should be enough to defeat the Han Jie. I also have a batch of goods. I have to sell them quickly while our army is coming."

"That's true, but a thousand people is still too few," the man next to him frowned.

"You and I both know the Yangji Army. They usually move in groups and are extremely cunning. Even if we add a few hundred officers and soldiers to this army of a thousand people, we still can't handle it."

"That does make sense," the rat-bearded man sighed, "But this heavy snow will eventually stop, or I should wait a few more days until all of our Great Yan army arrives, and then that Yang Jie shouldn't be anything to fear."

"That's true, but this winter is so cold, it's hard to say when the snow will stop. Besides, even if the snow stops, the army will definitely need to eat. If the army really arrives, this winter may be over."

The person next to him sighed deeply, shook his head and slowly left.

"Forget it, I'd better stay at home and go out less. No matter how rampant those Yang Jie are, I don't believe they can still rob my house."

The man with a rat beard hesitated for a moment, then went to ask other people.

Others either said that they could rest assured a little, or shook their heads and sighed.

Mouse Beard smiled, mounted a black horse that had been prepared long ago, and galloped northward.

Although crossing the border is not an easy task under special circumstances, Mouse Beard is obviously familiar with the route. After turning a few corners, he found a small path and soon arrived at Anchegu.

Outside the tent, a Han Jie soldier was slaughtering the oxen that had just been looted from the Tang Dynasty, while inside the tent, leader An Chegu was drinking goat milk and discussing with some small leaders how to divide the spoils.

"Oh, you're here," the leader of Anche Valley said as he sat by the campfire. "What news did you get from Dayan City?"

"It seems that Dayan is serious about our actions this time," the man with rat-like beard said seriously, "The Tang army has arrived here and is stationed outside the city not far away."

"Oh, so fast," Chief An Chegu was surprised.
"I heard that Yanyun City is far away from us. I didn't expect that their army would reach us so quickly. It seems that the Tang army is indeed not to be underestimated. We should restrain ourselves these days."

"Don't worry, Chief," the man with the rat beard chuckled.
(End of this chapter)