The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 274: Battle of Sekigahara (Part )

May 20th, Shang County, outside Suizhou City.

Li Renmei looked gloomily at this ancient city built in the first year of Zhenguan. It was surrounded by cliffs on all sides and was four miles in circumference.

He wanted to take this opportunity to perform well, to be soft and appease the enemy, to get more points, and to try to get a principality. Because he heard from the saint that twelve princes would be enfeoffed in Guanxi in the future.

Unexpectedly, things didn't go smoothly.

I thought that even a fool would know which route to choose from among the three routes to the north. He only needed to show off his fists and talk about policies along the way, and he could take control of Yinsui. But after arriving at Shiya City, the birds and beasts were silent.

Li Renmei then shot the imperial edict into the city, hoping that the person who actually controlled Shiya City could recognize the current situation and become a hero.

In the end, the other party ignored him and shouted back: "Suizhou is poor and insignificant, why bother to send troops? Guandong is the real threat, go back, leave this place to us. Remain loyal to the Tang Dynasty, and as long as you are promised freedom, you will do anything."

This made Li Renmei furious.

After all, he was the Great General of Sheng Tang and the Jiedushi of Tian'an Army, a third-rank official, and the commissioner in charge of Yinsui affairs.

These people were driving him away, just like driving the Monkey King away.

At that time, he wanted to send a letter to the emperor, requesting an order to send reinforcements from Xijing and Wenming General Road to attack, to violently take down Shiya City and massacre the people as a warning. But as soon as he started writing, he was dissuaded by Hu Suoyue. It would be incompetent to call for reinforcements when encountering a setback.

We only have 10,000 infantry and cavalry. We have no way of taking Shiya City, but it will be easy to sweep away the disobedience outside Shiya City.

Moreover, there are many foreigners in Suizhou, so if they are killed, few will blame them.

There were not many Han people in Suizhou, with 840 households in Yuanhe. Regardless of whether they were Han or cultivated, this was the total registered population of Suizhou. After Yuanhe, there was an increase, but after the Chaos Rebellion, it was reduced to its original state.

Now there are probably only a few thousand households, just as the Song people said: "Since the chaos at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the five counties under Suizhou were abolished, and there were no villages. The people were all foreigners, and the state sent soldiers to collect taxes."

The rest of the population is outside the royal government.

Where public power withdraws, private power moves in. At this time, there are four leaders in Suizhou.

The number one is naturally the branch of the Tuoba clan, Tuoba Renfu’s younger brother, the commander of the Suizhou foreign tribe, Renyu.

The Weiming clan was a part of the Dangxiang tribe.

Then there is the Yemu clan, a large Qiang tribe.

The Qiang people were widely distributed, and they were divided into the raw and the cooked. Those who lived in remote areas of the mountains and kept to their own ways were the raw people. They were extremely barbaric, and were the so-called "robbers and plunderers". Those who actively assimilated into the Han culture, moved into cities and villages, were called the cooked households. The Yemu clan was one of the cooked households.

However, they did not get along well with the Tuoba tribe and often fought against each other. Tuoba Renyu finally died at their hands.

Of course, the Qiang people themselves were not much better, just like the Dangxiang. Many of them had feuds for generations and never interacted with each other. They would often throw arrows at each other and fight to the death. They were primitive, ignorant, but strong.

Therefore, he was criticized by scholars and officials as "easily agitated and never learned to educate himself."

Then there are the Gao family and other generals.

The people of Suizhou lived under the rule of these large and small forces. Except for paying tribute to Tongwan City when necessary and obeying its orders, they regarded the Imperial State as nothing.

As for the imperial court, there were only those ridiculous thousands of households and several thousand men and women recorded in the Ministry of Revenue’s account books.

Is this still available?

Rebellion!
I am far away in Ganzhou, fighting for the Holy Tang Dynasty and selecting concubines. You are only a few hundred miles away from Chang'an, yet you dare to be so rampant.

This word woke Li Renmei up, and he immediately agreed, feeling extremely angry.

Well, I'll kill a few chickens first to establish my authority, otherwise who will take me seriously?
Thinking of this, he looked around at the generals and said, "The previous king swept across the four barbarians, but did not exterminate their species. He ruled them all equally. What kind of grace is this? All the people in the land are the king's subjects. The Han people in Sanfu are busy working for the country, but the Han people in Suizhou are like barbarians. How rebellious is this? How unfair is this?"

"You have no respect for the emperor, what use are you to me?"

"I really don't know where they will go after they die, heaven or hell."

“Their fate lies in this.”

"Give the order!" Li Renmei waved his hand and said, "Gather a thousand men and send them out in all directions!"

"Choose two Tangut tribes, and kill all men weighing more than 20 kilograms. Choose three Qiang tribes, and kill all the leaders and their families, but don't kill ordinary people. Choose three Han and Fan landlords who own more than 800 acres of land, and kill the men and keep the women. Don't kill the servants."

"Today, I am using their corpses to warn the barbarians and people who refuse to obey the king's rule."

If you pretend to be dead to the king's teacher, you must be prepared to be implicated. I only look at political stance, not type, gender, age or weakness.

All the generals were startled, crossed their arms and shouted in unison: "Follow the general's order!"

Then, the men and horses shouted, "Go!"

Li Renmei watched with satisfaction. Kill them. Kill a bunch of them and the people will be at peace. Kill them until they lose their courage and excrement, and then they will all scramble to become obedient subjects of the Holy Tang.

"Cut!" Li Renmei whipped the beast under his crotch, and it started to shake its head and run around happily.

Da da da.

Ta-ta-ta…

Li Renmei was like turning on the navigation. She sniffed around, looked around, and finally found a hidden valley.

This was a small branch of the Yemu clan, and they had long since discovered the arrival of the punitive army. But they didn't leave, and they hadn't rebelled, so why would they run? But they were afraid of being implicated, so they hid.

At the entrance of the valley, Li Renmei pointed and talked.

"Yes!" More than a thousand soldiers were divided into dozens of teams.

With long spears dragging behind them and knives in their mouths, they put on their armor and ran wildly. They were lightly dressed and took off their helmets, revealing bright red headbands on their foreheads. Their feet were full of killing intent. They moved swiftly in the forest and rushed through the bushes.

Under the loess wall, next to the woolen tent.

Ye Mucai was lying on the sedge, looking up at the sky and thinking about life.

"How long do you think we have to hide here?" Ye Mucai sighed to the sheep in front of him, "It seems that Xia Sui can't stay here any longer. I think we have to leave this place and find a new home."

The sheep ate grass silently.

"You are so stupid." Ye Mucai cursed, "But I forgive you. Who made you our totem? We want to eat you when you are alive, and we want you to lead the way and be buried with us when we die. Alas, it's not easy for you either."

After talking to himself, he sighed again.

In such a chaotic situation, where can we go?
Hexi? I heard that the Tubo people were everywhere, so forget it.

Jiannan? Too far.

Yokoyama? I can consider it...

He had been to Xiazhou as an envoy to celebrate Sigong's birthday. It was a fertile land with oases and undulating deserts. It was vast and boundless, with almost no competition and was very safe. If you ran far enough, you didn't have to pay tribute.

Hey.

This is comfortable.

As things stand, the fruits of their labor will be shared by the Tuoba clan and Dayemu, and these guys will only give them some clothes, salt and iron.

Furthermore, your wife and daughter are not protected. If you are favored by a strong man, you can only send him to you. If you meet a pervert, you will be asked to stand by and watch, while your wife wipes her saliva and lifts her legs.

It's a double torture of the mind and body!
Of course, you don't have to send it. After all, it has been so long since the Han and Wei dynasties, the Qiang people have already developed a certain civilization and marriage customs. But in a tribal society where the big fish eat the small fish and the small fish eat the shrimp, the rights of the weak are not protected.

There is no unified authoritarian center.

Unlike Chang'an, Emperor Li said that no matter what you do, you will be retaliated by the judicial system and the dictatorship if you do it.

"My life is so miserable." Ye Mucai cried in his heart. Suddenly, a creepy scream came from a distance: "Ah!"

Ye Mucai stopped thinking about life, listened carefully for a while, stood up and looked, then immediately turned around and ran into the tent: "Run!"

His wife of seventeen years and two children stayed there.

"Run!" Ye Mucai shouted again, picked up the bow and arrow and rushed out.

There was already fighting in the valley.

"Swish, swish, swish!" He knelt on one knee, pointed the crossbow and aimed. Dozens of iron hooks shot out, knocking down a group of people and animals.

"Gee!" Densely packed armored knights pulled the reins and drove their mounts to rumble up the sides of the valley, almost flying over the eaves and walls along the sloping embankments, raising a cloud of yellow sand.

"Bang!" The sheep couldn't dodge in time and was knocked away.

"Tattattatt..." A large group of warriors came into view. Holding sharp blades, wearing white clothes, red foreheads and black armor, each of them had blood on their faces.

"Oh my God." Ye Mu was dumbfounded and peed a large amount of urine on his crotch.

"Kill the bald man!" The crowd roared: "Kill, kill, kill!"

Ye Mucai collapsed to the ground.

The hastily assembled men fled after just one encounter, crying and shouting, and shouting in unison: "I surrender! I surrender!"

"Where is the chief? Where is the chief?" The army marched forward, looking and asking questions. The men, women, old and young who were caught and questioned could not speak clearly. They were hit in the face with a knife or kicked away: "You can't speak clearly, kneel down!"

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!" Dozens of riders from high above shot down a rain of arrows.

The sharp arrows easily pierced through a dozen Ye Mu people who were trying to escape, pinning them to the ground.

The blood flowed into the yellow earth.

In less than an incense stick of time, the sedge valley was filled with a fishy smell.

"Come out!" Ye Mucai was dragged down the ridge by his hair, and was beaten to his knees along with another surviving chief.

The family members were also brought over and knelt in a row behind them.

All the tribesmen were prostrating themselves everywhere.

"Da da da..." A white bearded man with deep eyes, high nose and a big face walked out slowly.

"Come down!" The family members of the headman were beating their heads like pounding garlic and crying non-stop.

Li Renmei walked back and forth, and then he stood high on his horse and said, "Behead!"

The spear thrust out.

A row of men and women were stabbed to death and thrown away.

Ye Mucai's mind went blank. He looked up and shouted, "I was working at home when the soldiers suddenly came into the valley. I really don't know what crime I have committed. I must die knowingly!"

What crime?

Zhang Zhongwu captured the chieftain and burned his tent, killing 200,000 people.

Taizong captured Anshi, captured Huizhen, and captured more than 3,000 Mohe soldiers, all of whom were buried alive.

What crime do you want? If you are not registered as a resident, then there is something wrong with the leadership of your area, and you will be slaughtered.

"I don't like you." Li Renmei said succinctly: "The court is attacking the Dingnan Army, don't you know?"

"That's great!" Ye Mucai nodded hurriedly.

"Then why don't you come see me?"

Ye Mucai was speechless.

"Forget it!" Perhaps moved by the desire to survive, Li Renmei let him go. "I am the Great General of the Holy Tang Dynasty and the Jiedushi of the Tian'an Army. I am ordered to conquer Yinsui. Bring your people and follow me to help me with the work."

"Thank you, General, for not killing me!" Without having time to think, Ye Mucai bowed his head repeatedly.

"You should thank God, thank the saints for their benevolent virtue, and thank the great national policy of the Holy Tang Dynasty." Li Renmei said slowly.

"Thank you, Saint! Thank you, Sheng Tang! Thank you, Guo Ce!" A group of people spoke in a mess.

Li Renmei ignored him and gave the order: "Hang the heads of those who have been killed on the horses, and register the property, cattle, sheep and people and take them away. Go back to cook for the night, and set out at three o'clock in the morning to find Dayemu and Weimingshi! I want to ask, which side are they on? If they don't have the ability and don't surrender, do they have the right to live in this world?"

"go!"

The sergeant responded loudly: "Yes!"

.........

In the bright and spacious military residence, Tuoba Liufeng, Tuoba Renfu, Ye Lidao and others were calm and composed, while the commanders and officers of various tribes were sitting cross-legged.

Gao Zongyi paced back and forth in the corridor, furious: "I don't understand! Why are they all talking about Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, as if this ancient battlefield of Lingxia is destined to bring disaster to us!"

"Ten years ago, I set out on a journey from Tongwan City to help fight Huang Chao. Wherever I passed, civilians fell to the ground like zombies, foxes and rabbits roamed in Hanyuan Palace, and the imperial concubine was forced to wander the streets, pregnant with an illegitimate child. It was truly a loss of dignity. That dead, cold and solemn scene is still before my eyes! In just ten years, has the emperor changed so much that you have become suspicious before the war even begins?"

"The emperor is not a mortal. He is just a mortal! The reasons for the failure of Li Changfu and Zhu Wen are hard to explain. The main reason is that they took the initiative to enter Chang'an. If things don't go smoothly, their prestige will be damaged. This time, the emperor is here on an expedition!"

"We can afford to delay, but he can't!"

"We can lose three or five times, but he can't lose even a little."

"Besides, the Shuofang Army has already been dispatched in the name of serving the king."

This is the truth, but——

"General." A general officer still crossed his arms and advised: "I have watched the king's army from afar. The army is well-organized and the morale is high. I think it is not appropriate to fight for the time being. It is better to wait and attack later."

"General, I have a suggestion as well." Du Yu Hou Ma Kuo said happily, "Xijing is nine hundred miles away from here, and the Saint will spend that much money if he stays here for a day. If there is no success for a long time, the ministers will persuade him to return. In addition, it is already the end of May, and when the rainy season comes, the food supply will be difficult. If we send cavalry to attack the food supply, there will be a risk of food shortage. At that time, we can fight them in the field, or ask Li Sikong to mediate and give the Saint a way out. Anyway, no matter what, our vassal will be saved."

"I second the motion!" More than ten people raised their hands.

Bang! Gao Zongyi slammed the table and said gloomily, "It's too dangerous to defend an isolated city! Zhang Cunjing was killed in this way. It's not good for morale. Besides, the saint came from afar and is still a tired army. We must fight him and test his strength. If we fight with our backs to the city, we won't lose much even if we lose. The situation is not right, retreat quickly."

Well, actually both sides are right.

If you lose the battle, you will only suffer a small loss. But if you win, you may be able to kill the saint immediately and solve the problem once and for all. It is safe to defend the isolated city, but if you misjudge the saint's logistics and are besieged by the enemy, it will be terrifying.

“General—” Ma Kuo wanted to say more, but Gao Zongyi interrupted him with a wave of his hand: “No matter what! The battle force is 100,000 to 30,000, the advantage is on my side! Please don’t say anything more!”

There really are 100,000.

Dingnan Army has 20,000 Han soldiers and 20,000 Fan tribe soldiers. There were not so many originally. Xia Sui was poor and could not afford to support 40,000 demobilized soldiers. They were temporarily supplemented. There were also warriors from various tribes recruited by the eight major clans, the Shuofang Army, and various small clans and miscellaneous Hu people.

In contrast, the saint brought only 30,000 soldiers.

After hearing what he said, the generals thought that there was indeed a chance of winning, and it was not low.

"All right!" Gao Zongyi clapped his hands and said happily, "Let's go down and encourage the soldiers and organize the weapons. We will wait for an opportunity to challenge in the next few days. We will give out rewards tomorrow."

Saint, oh saint, you are indeed good at fighting, and you have some of the spirit of your ancestors, but this is Xiazhou. If you come to fight me, isn't it the same as Zhu Wen's brutal attack on you in Tongguan?
"The Marshal is wise!" Everyone present responded with their hands crossed.

(End of this chapter)