A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 101 The King Wants to Disobey His Order?
In the afternoon,

Li Shimin assembled the soldiers of the three armies,
"Ask the angel to read the emperor's decree."

On the wooden platform,
Zheng Yuanzhen, the Duke of Pei and the Minister of Rites, held the imperial edict in yellow silk in his hand and read aloud the imperial decree from Chang'an to the soldiers.

This was an imperial edict of commendation. The emperor was very satisfied with the performance of the soldiers of the Western Expedition Camp led by Li Shimin and thanked them for their bloody battles.

Li Yuan ordered Zheng Yuanzhen to bring cattle, wine, brocade robes, silver belts, money and silk to reward the soldiers of the three armies.

The Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of War and other departments also sent officials to accompany them to record their honors and verify their achievements.

After the decree was read,
Lift up the three animals of pig, cattle and sheep as sacrifices to the battle flag,

"Every soldier going out on this expedition will be awarded one medal, one pound of wine and meat, two mooncakes, and one piece of silk."

Upon hearing this, the three armies cheered loudly.

Today, Li Yi specially put on the rhinoceros leather armor that he had not worn since he went on the expedition. The hard rhinoceros armor was like a steel plate. He felt like a turtle prime minister, but it was quite light.

Upon hearing about this reward, Li Yi also admired Li Yuan's generosity.

This one-turn honor is additional, that is, everyone who comes this time will be given one turn of honor. As for your killing enemies, beheadings, or being the first to charge into battle, or beheading generals and capturing flags on the battlefield, these merits will be calculated separately, and you will still get what you deserve.

But even if you didn't perform any outstanding performance or make any contribution this time, you will still be awarded a medal.

Although being a casual official is not worth much now, for many soldiers, especially ordinary soldiers, with this honor, they can become casual officials and have some privileges, such as being able to take concubines, increase the amount of land, and even improve the rules of houses and cemeteries. If they and their parents, wives and children commit crimes, their sentences can be reduced by one level, etc.

One pound of beef and wine, two mooncakes, and a piece of silk, which is quite substantial.

The emperor also remembered the Mid-Autumn Festival and specially prepared mooncakes.

"Is it really one pound of beef per person? Where do so many cattle come from?" Li Yi asked the official Su Xu next to him. Although this man's grandfather was the prime minister of the Sui Dynasty, his grandfather was in Jiangdu before and was forced to follow Yuwen Shiji to the north. Then he fell into the hands of Li Mi. He was still wandering outside in his seventies and eighties.

The Su Xu brothers surrendered to Li Tang in Guanzhong and could only start as minor officials.

"Niujiu is actually just a term. Cattle were usually sacrificed during battles and rewards after returning home. After the sacrifice, the cattle were also distributed as rewards to the soldiers, hence the name niujiu. In reality, the meat and wine rewards given by the army were usually mainly mutton and pork."

Anyway, eat whatever is available. Cows, horses, camels, mules, and donkeys cannot be killed easily because they are precious resources and need to be ridden and used to carry supplies.

In addition to awarding everyone the first-level honor, and rewarding each person with a pound of wine and meat and a piece of silk,

This time the angel came,

He also gave special commendations to a group of meritorious soldiers and rewarded them with imperial wine, brocade robes, silver belts, etc.

Li Yi originally thought that he had nothing to do with it, but he turned out to be on the long list of commendations.

Granted the title of Bingyi Wei, the eighth rank.
He was granted the title of Kaifu Yitong Sansi, and was regarded as a fourth-rank official.

The casual official is the third from the bottom, but the casual official has accumulated seven ranks of merit. Last time, he was rewarded with three ranks for his contribution of medicine. This time, Li Shimin asked for three ranks of merit for him, and then Li Yuan gave him another rank of merit.
This is like riding a rocket. It feels like I haven't done anything, but I've already reached the fourth rank of the seventh level of honor?
There are only twelve turns in total.
If this continues, then wouldn't Li Yi have a chance to become a pillar of the state?
Aren’t there too many honors in this early country?

The value of Bingyi Wei and Kaifu Yitong Sansi is very low nowadays, but fortunately Li Yuan himself knows it, so Li Yi also received rewards such as two horses, four slaves, one hundred pieces of silk, a silver belt, a jar of imperial wine, and two brocade robes.

There are quite a lot of things.

Unfortunately, there is no title that Li Yi wants.

Things like casual positions and official positions are not worth much, but titles are very valuable. It would be a pity if you didn't get one.

Thank you along with all the commended generals.
He listened to Li Jing's praise.
Li Jing also did not get the title,

He had been rewarded immediately after the war, from the fifth-rank court doctor, to the seventh-rank Kaifu Yitong Sansi, and also to the fifth-rank Yifu Kaifu Yitong of Youwu Hou.

This time, because he was granted the first rank of honor, his official position became the eighth rank of honor, Kaifu Yitong Sansi.

His other official positions remained unchanged, but he received more rewards than Li Yi, including four horses, eight slaves, two silver belts, four brocade robes, two hundred pieces of silk, and two jars of wine.

It's double his.

Unfortunately, Li Jing was only a military officer this time. He had only been in Liang Shi's camp for a few days and was only a military commander. If it was Li Jing who commanded the battle instead of Liang Shi, he would definitely have been granted a title this time.

Not to mention directly getting back the family's title of Duke of Yongkang County, getting a county lord or county son would be enough.

Pigs and sheep were slaughtered in the military camp and the meat began to be distributed.

Each group of ten soldiers received five pounds of mutton, five pounds of pork, ten pounds of wine, and rice, and went back to stew the meat and cook the rice.

The officers were, of course, treated better.

As a meritorious official on the emperor's personal commendation list, Li Yi was also on Li Shimin's Mid-Autumn Festival celebration banquet list and was allowed to sit at the table.

Li Yi took Liu Heizi to collect his share of the reward.
There are official notices of scattered officials and scattered posts.

There are also imperial wine, brocade robes, silver belts, two hundred pieces of silk, two horses and four slaves, which must be collected from Chang'an. This is a good thing, otherwise it would be difficult to take care of them if they are not collected.

night,

The Jingzhou General Administration held a celebration banquet, and Li Yi was invited early.

Today, not only the generals, officers and civil servants who participated in this battle, but also the rulers and ministers of Longyou who surrendered after their defeat,

Xue Rengao, the Qin emperor, dressed in white, sat beside Li Shimin.

His prime ministers and generals also wore white robes.

Li Shimin treated these people very well, but now they have no official position.

The elite infantry and cavalry of the surrendered Longyou Army have been incorporated into Li Shimin's various units.

The rest were sent home.

Li Yi found that Xue Rengao and the others were actually quite uncomfortable, especially Xue Rengao. Although he was treated with courtesy by the King of Qin today, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty did not issue an edict to announce how to deal with them. Whether it would be preferential treatment or liquidation, everything was still unknown.

It's like a sword hanging over your head, ready to fall at any moment. How can you be at ease?

The two groups that were fighting each other bloody before are now sitting together drinking and chatting happily.

On the Tang general side, Liu Wenjing and Yin Kaishan also wore white robes. Although they had won the battle, the emperor had not yet restored their official titles.

They sat there and were the most dissatisfied with Xue Rengao's side, glaring at them the whole time.

The other prime minister, Dou Kang, was much calmer and more relaxed.

"Everyone, please join me in raising our glasses to congratulate His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty in Chang'an."

"Congratulations, Emperor!"

Li Yi also raised his glass, the wine he drank yesterday was still the millet yellow wine.
He only took a sip. He was drunk yesterday. The wine tasted sweet, but it was stronger than beer.

The banquet was harmonious.
There were even singing girls from Jingzhou City performing dances and music.

It was nice to listen to songs and watch dances while eating mooncakes. It made people seem to forget this difficult war.

The mooncakes are very pretty, they are molded and then baked, they have Baoxiang patterns, they look very exquisite, and they also have stuffings inside, such as red dates, walnuts, grape kernels, etc.
It turns out that the mooncakes eaten by people in the Tang Dynasty already had five-nut flavors.

This kind of five-nut mooncake was a high-end product in the Tang Dynasty. The ones for the soldiers did not have such patterns or such rich fillings. They were actually just two plain Hu cakes.

Feast till midnight,
Li Yi had been restraining himself from drinking too much and remained sober, but many generals were drunk.

Drunken generals are prone to causing trouble. Some are really drunk and crazy, while others are just drunk and crazy.

For example, Liu Wenjing threw mooncakes at Xue Rengao, and Yin Kaishan punched the sick Hao Yuan.
With these two leading the way,

So the celebration party that was about to end actually reached a climax, with people on both sides overturning tables, throwing cups, tearing each other apart, and swinging fists and arms.
The singing girls screamed in fear,
Li Yi grabbed a handful of melon seeds and retreated to a corner to watch the show.
He did not want to participate in the melee. Those generals could stand on their fists, horses could run on their arms, their waists were ten feet in circumference and they weighed hundreds of pounds.

If they knock you down, you'll even shit out of you.

Fortunately, Li Shimin is still alive.
He quickly sang to stop the nonsense,

Li Shimin kicked over the table in front of him and rolled over several times, making a loud noise.

"enough!"

A shout of anger,

No matter if they are really drunk or crazy,
Gradually separated,

Li Shimin's majestic eyes slowly moved across everyone's faces.

That gaze was so overwhelming that everyone who was swept by it lowered their heads, especially the surrenderists in Longyou, who dared not face it.

After a long silence,

Li Shimin didn't say a word, just flicked his sleeves and left.

The banquet is over.

Everyone went back home and Li Shimin did not punish anyone.

But early the next morning, Li Yi was invited to attend a military meeting again.

This time there are no Longyou surrenderists,

Zheng Yuanzhen took out an imperial edict, which was not announced yesterday.

"Your Majesty said that this edict would be read after the Mid-Autumn Festival."

When he finished reading the edict, Li Shimin was very unhappy.

The emperor ordered that all the officers of the Longyou Army, including Xue Rengao, Zong Luohou, Hao Yuan, and Zhai Changsun, who were of the third rank and above, be taken to Chang'an.

Li Yuan wanted to execute them in Chang'an.
He also ordered that Liu Gan's body be found and brought back to Chang'an for a proper burial.

"I have already submitted a memorial to Your Majesty, requesting that the surrender of Xue Rengao and his men be accepted and that they be treated leniently. This way, the various prefectures in Longyou will fall without a fight and be conquered with a single edict.

This was indeed the case. Now that Xue Rengao and others had surrendered, tens of thousands of elite troops from Longyou had also joined the Tang army. All the prefectures in Longyou had also submitted petitions to submit.

But now, Your Majesty wants to escort Xue Rengao and all those above the third rank to Chang'an for execution. I'm afraid that everyone in Longyou will be in danger. Even those who surrendered might mutiny, not to mention the various states in Longyou that have already submitted petitions for surrender, who may rebel again at any time."

"Whose slander did Your Majesty believe to issue such an edict?"

No one said a word.

After the battle of Qianshuiyuan, Li Shimin successfully surrendered the Longyou Army, which was very smooth and successful, and indeed disintegrated the last resistance of Longyou.

But anyone with a discerning eye could see that the King of Qin had revealed some ambition.

He directly took the entire Longyou Legion and Longyou territory under his control.

How could Chang'an not be alert? The one who reacted the most must have been Crown Prince Li Jiancheng.

Xue Rengao, Zong Luohou, Zhai Changsun and others are all brave generals who are the bravest among the three armies. The elite cavalry of Longyou are also the elite in the world. Even Hao Yuan, Zhu Liang and others are very strategic. If they are all allowed to join the Qin Palace, it will be disastrous.

Xue Rengao and others were taken to Chang'an and executed.
On the surface, of course, it was a warning to other powerful princes who refused to submit to the Tang Dynasty, and it was also an explanation to the soldiers who had died or been injured in the battles with the Longyou Army over the past year, and to the people in the places that had been attacked and looted by the Longyou Army.
But more importantly, they didn't want Li Shimin to swallow such a large force.

Li Yi was also very emotional sitting below.
From the perspective of the Tang Dynasty court, people like Xue Rengao certainly cannot be let go, but there is no need to kill them directly. They can be summoned to the court and distributed to the crown prince, the King of Qi, and the court guards.

The world is not yet unified, and there are still many powerful enemies. It is the time to use people. It would be a pity to kill them now. These people have just surrendered to Li Shimin, and it is impossible for them to be loyal to Li Shimin.

No one can possibly kill him directly now.

Zheng Yuanzhen said that he must immediately arrest Xue Rengao and others and then take them to Chang'an, but Li Shimin slammed the table and refused.

The two confronted each other.

"Who is this Zheng Yuanzhen? How dare he contradict the King of Qin like this?"

"He was from the Zheng clan of Xingyang. His father was a good friend of Yuwen Tai and a classmate of Yang Jian. In the second year of the Daxiang era, he joined forces with Liu Fang to forge an imperial edict to assist Duke Yang Jian in governing the country, making significant contributions to Yang Jian's usurpation of the Sui Dynasty."

"That was also the credit of the previous dynasty. Besides, how dare the Five Surnames contradict the King of Qin like this?"

Su Xu chuckled, "The Crown Princess is also from the Zheng family of Xingyang, and is Zheng Yuanzhen's niece."

"Oh!"

Now Li Yi understood that Jiancheng’s wife’s family members were naturally his supporters.

"Your Majesty, do you want to disobey the order?" Zheng Yuanzhen held up the imperial edict, refusing to give in.

Li Shimin glared at him.

Dou Kang came out to persuade him,

In the end, Li Shimin was only willing to hand over Xue Rengao and his brothers.
Zheng Yuanzhen refused to accept it and insisted on taking away all the officials above the third rank of Xue Qin.
Dou Kang tried to persuade her,

Finally, Li Shimin handed over another Zong Luohou,

Zheng Yuanjun refused.
So the two sides quarreled from morning to afternoon.
Li Shimin handed over more and more people, from Xue Rengao to Zong Luohou, from Hao Yuan to Zhang Gui, and then to the coroner Zheng who had pretended to surrender to Chang Da and then kidnapped him and seized Longzhou, plus Xue Rengao's brothers, and the children of Zong Luohou and others,
There are about a hundred people in total.

Li Shimin insisted on protecting Zhai Changsun, Zhu Liang, Zhu Suiliang and other civil and military officials, and refused to hand over any of them.

Dou Kang also asked Zheng Yuanjun to take these 100 people back to report first.
As for the follow-up, the King of Qin will report to the emperor for instructions.

Zheng Yuanjun originally wanted to take the 800 armored cavalry away,
But Li Shimin told him directly that these people had already been recruited.

On the same day,

Zheng Yuanzhen arrested Xue Rengao and more than a hundred others, loaded them into prison carts and took them to Chang'an.

This incident caused a great deal of panic among the surrendered generals and soldiers in Jingzhou. Fortunately, the Tang army was well prepared. After executing more than a dozen of Xue Rengao's personal soldiers who wanted to stir up trouble, they sent their heads to various camps and hung them at the camp gates for public display. Then they repeatedly assured the surrendered soldiers in Longyou that they would not be implicated.
The matter was gradually suppressed.

But Li Shimin was very angry.

He could guess that this matter must have been pushed by his brother Jiancheng behind the scenes.

Li Shimin decided to go back to Chang'an in person.
Li Shuliang and Liu Hongji continued to garrison Jingzhou, Qiu Xinggong garrisoned Lingzhou, Dou Gui garrisoned Qinzhou, Chang Da returned to garrison Longzhou, Liang Shi garrisoned Binzhou,
Chai Shao and Dou Gui were sent to Longyou to take over.

After making the arrangements, Li Shimin returned to Chang'an the next day, and Li Yi took the opportunity to follow him back to Beijing. He also specifically asked Li Shimin for an order to take the twelve people from Luojiabao back with him.

Li Yi had actually only been out for a little over a month on this expedition, which was much earlier than he had expected when he first came.

But this trip was not in vain,
I got the fourth level honor and a rank of eighth rank.

The only regret is that we were unable to bring back all fourteen villagers from Luojiabao who were serving in the army, as two of them were missing.

(End of this chapter)