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

Chapter 233 Encountering Luo Shixin's surprise attack

The 27th day of the first lunar month, the second year of Wude.

The Rain Water solar term has passed for several days, but there is still no sign of spring coming.

There was still a thin layer of ice on the north bank of the Gushui River. Li Yi reined in his restless chestnut horse and watched the grain transport convoy winding like a dragon as it rolled over the ice. His hands, wearing deerskin gloves, were still frozen stiff.

The cold wind of early spring blew, scratching my face like a knife.

Walking in the battle zone between the Tang and Zheng armies, Li Yi did not dare to underestimate the enemy. He put on the Shangfang Mingguang Fish-Scale Mountain Armor given by the prince, covered with a brocade robe, and tied a large cloak. The protection did increase a lot, but wearing the fifty-jin iron armor made him even colder.

It's almost February, can't spring come and flowers bloom?
At this moment, he missed the fire wall, kang and stove at home, where he could sit around the stove, make tea and read books, or invite a few good friends to drink wine and chat. It was so comfortable.

However, as Wang Shichong led his army to besiege Guzhou again, this time with even greater force, the governor of Guzhou, Ren Gui, urgently asked Chang'an for help.

This time Wang Shichong brought with him more than a dozen fierce generals from Wagang, including Luo Shixin, Qin Shubao, Cheng Yaojin, Pei Xingyan, and Shan Xiongxin, all of whom were powerful generals who could defeat ten thousand enemies.

Although Ren Gui was wise and resourceful, he had no powerful generals under his command. The outer forts of Guzhou were successively breached by these generals, so Ren Gui had no choice but to ask for help from Chang'an.

Ren Gui was the teacher of Crown Prince Jiancheng. The crown prince took the initiative to ask the emperor to lead troops to rescue.

Originally, he planned to send troops to Yuanzhou in February to attack Li Gui and take over Hexi. However, the situation in Hexi was favorable, so Li Jiancheng requested to first go out of Tongguan to rescue Guzhou and repel Wang Shichong before sending troops to Hexi.

Prince of Qin Li Shimin requested that he, as the Grand Chancellor of the East Shaanxi Road, lead troops to rescue Guzhou, but in the end the emperor agreed to the request of Crown Prince Jiancheng and let him lead 20,000 troops to urgently rescue Guzhou.

Li Yi, the Prince's Left Guard and General of the Cavalry, was already on the list of troops sent to Hexi, so he was naturally summoned to accompany them this time.

In Tongguan, Li Yi received a task from the prince, asking him to lead a battalion of a thousand people to escort a batch of grain and fodder.

This should have been a relatively easy task.
But he always had a bad feeling.

He looked at the grain transport convoy again. His thousand men and horses were escorting the convoy as it passed through a very dangerous and narrow section.
The roads were narrow along the mountains and rivers, and the grain transport convoys moved very slowly and with great difficulty.
The road was slippery due to ice and snow, and the convoy had to stop and go frequently. From time to time, grain carts got stuck, and the laborers transporting the grain had to push the carts with all their strength.

He looked up at the sky and it was already late.

"Qiu Brigade Commander,"

"General, what are your orders?" Qiu Shenyan rushed forward and responded.

"It's getting late. Let's find a place sheltered from the wind and set up camp for the night."

"Send more scouts to conduct reconnaissance."

Since Qiu Shenyan helped Li Yi capture Du Jingai last time, the relationship between the two has also taken a step forward. This time, Qiu Shenyan took the initiative to find Li Yi and said that he wanted to join the army to gain some fame. Li Yi also helped this. He asked the prince to transfer Qiu Shenyan, Zhao Yongan, Li Dejiang, Wu Junya, Ji Sigong and others to his own command.
He also requested that the ten or so people from Luojiabao, including Dafu, who had just been selected as palace soldiers, be transferred over. Li Jiancheng agreed to all these small requests and issued an order from the crown prince, and everything was done.

"General, we're moving too slowly. If we don't hurry up and make more progress, we'll miss the deadline and be hard to explain."

"Safety first. We're right next to the front line here, and the Zheng troops from Luoyang could infiltrate at any time. If we run into them, we won't just miss the deadline. If these provisions are lost, that would be a real sin."

Before he finished speaking, a jackdaw suddenly flew away from the distant hills.

Li Dejiang hurried over, "General, there's something going on over there."

Li Yi quickly stood up and raised his whip to warn: "Stop moving forward."

More jackdaws were startled from the poplar forest on the east bank.

Everyone's expression changed drastically.

In a panic, the laborers pushed the carts into formation under the orders of the soldiers escorting the grain. Several carts were connected end to end to form a circle. Due to the limited terrain, they could only temporarily turn the long grain transport convoy into small circles. The laborers pulled out spears from the grain carts, stood in the circle, holding the spears and facing outward, looking around nervously.

The thousand soldiers escorting the grain quickly formed several circles.

A cavalry rushed out from the poplar forest on the east bank,
Fast horse, horn bow and light sword,

The number was not large, only about two or three hundred, but Li Yi's heart was pounding. His side had ten times the number of people as the opposite side, but if a real fight came, Li Yi didn't dare to say that he could win.

The opposing forces were obviously elite light cavalry. This was already the rear of the Tang army, yet the enemy was able to penetrate deep into their territory. This was enough to show how powerful this cavalry was.

As for his thousand grain-escorting soldiers and over a thousand civilian laborers, the civilian laborers could not be relied upon to fight at all. Even the thousand soldiers under his command were mostly newly selected government soldiers from Guanzhong, and many of them had not yet learned the art of battle.

The only people under his command who could really fight were actually two hundred veteran soldiers, but most of them were infantry, and there was only one team of fifty cavalrymen.

The enemy cavalry rushed out from the forest,
The first general was riding a black horse, wearing black armor and a black robe. He was not tall and strong, but he was holding a 10-foot-long horse spear, which looked very inconsistent.
But he rushed the fastest,
The cold light of the horse spear flickered like lightning.

In the blink of an eye, he rushed to the edge of the forest and with lightning speed, he directly knocked away two new government soldiers holding spears.

Li Yi looked at it from a distance, his pupils suddenly shrinking.
What a fast spear technique!
"Shoot! Shoot!" He heard the leader of the team shouting over there. Archers in the formation shot more than a dozen arrows, and several arrows hit him, but he was unharmed. Instead, he swung his spear again and knocked the leader who was commanding the shooting away again.

"Hahaha, Luo Shixin from Shandong is here, who dares to stop me!" the general shouted.

"Luo Shixin?" Li Yi exclaimed in surprise, his palms sweating. The name Luo Shixin was like thunder in his ears.

At that time, Zhang Xutuo had two peerless generals under his command, Qin Shubao and Luo Shixin. In his early years, Zhang Xutuo was fighting bandits in Henan. Luo Shixin was only fourteen years old. He was originally a servant sent by the government to serve him. However, Luo Shixin also wanted to go into battle and kill the enemy to make merit.
When people laughed at him for being young and small, and not even having the strength to put on armor, Luo Shixin became furious. He immediately put on two sets of armor, hung two pots of arrows, and jumped on his horse. Seeing this, Zhang Xutuo allowed him to go into battle.

As soon as the enemy troops formed up, Luo Shixin rushed into the enemy camp on horseback, killed several people in a row, and cut off one person's head. He threw the head into the air and caught it with his spear, then walked around in front of the formation. The enemy was frightened and dared not approach. Zhang Xutuo took advantage of the situation and attacked, defeating the enemy. Luo Shixin pursued him and cut off the nose of each person he killed. After returning to the army, he used the nose as a reward for his success.
From then on, he was deeply appreciated by Zhang Xutuo. Later, Yang Guang sent someone to paint a portrait of Zhang Xutuo, and also specially asked the painter to paint a portrait of Luo Shixin and Qin Qiong to take back for appreciation.

This is a short and powerful enemy.

He was only nineteen years old this year, but he had already fought in battles for five years, hundreds of battles, large and small. After Zhang Xutuo died in battle, he followed him to Wagang, where he was seriously injured and captured in the battle of Mangshan. When Wang Shichong was with Yang Guang as a young man, he had already heard of his reputation for bravery.
After getting Luo Shixin, he rewarded him generously, personally helped bandage his wounds, and ate and slept with him every day.

Li Yi groaned in his heart, wondering how he could have met such a killer.

It is said that this guy has cut off thousands of noses.

Li Yi's nose felt a little itchy.

He doesn't want to lose his nose.

Qiu Shenyan, Li Dejiang, Wen Sigong, and Zhao Yongan were all good at riding and shooting, and they had heard of Luo Shixin's name long ago.

However, they were not afraid. Instead, they were filled with fighting spirit and roared as they rode their horses to charge towards Luo Shixin. If they could kill this enemy general, it would be a great achievement.

Li Yi was panicked for a moment.
I don't know how to direct.
This narrow terrain was not an ideal place for either side to engage in battle, but Luo Shixin obviously didn't care about this at all. He wore double armor, and even his mount was covered in leather armor. He just galloped back and forth in front of the formation, and his horse spear occasionally stabbed and knocked down the Tang army.
He had two or three hundred cavalrymen under his command, all of whom were extremely brave.

He could shoot arrows on horseback and never missed his target.

Qiu Shenyan and his four men rushed towards Luo Shixin.

"You've come just in time," Luo Shixin shouted as he came forward.

Actually fighting in front of the battle

Luo Shixin fought against Qiu Shenyan and his four companions alone, and was not at all inferior.

At this moment, Li Yi wished he had a Barrett rifle so that he could stop Luo Shixin with one shot.

After several rounds of fighting, Wen Sigong was the first to be knocked off his horse, followed by Zhao Yongan. Seeing this, Li Yi's throat tightened and his heart was about to jump out of his throat.

"Luo Shixin, why are you riding a black horse today? Where is your Zhaoye Shizicong?" Li Yi shouted.

Luo Shixin, who had just defeated two Tang generals in a row, was excitedly wanting to knock the other two off their horses in one fell swoop, but was stunned by the shout.

While he was stunned,

Wen Sigong and Zhao Yongan also quickly put down their spears and ran for their lives, running towards their mounts.

Li Yi continued to shout, "I heard that during the reign of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, the Western Regions of Dayuan presented a thousand-mile-long horse as a tribute. Among them was a horse called the Lion Stallion, whose mane dragged the ground. Only Pei Renji could control it. He left Xijing in the morning and arrived in Luoyang in the evening, and could travel 800 miles a day.

Emperor Wen later gifted this horse to Pei Renji. During the battle at Dahai Temple, Pei Xingyan was seriously injured and fell off his horse. He was surrounded by the Wagang army. It was you who fought back at the risk of your life to rescue him. Pei Renji, out of gratitude, gifted you the Zhaoye Shizicong.
General Luo is a formidable warrior, and with that Lion Stallion he's even more powerful, like Lü Bu and his Red Hare. But why isn't the Lion Stallion here today?"

These words exposed Luo Shixin's scars, making his face look extremely ugly.

Luo Shixin's grip on the spear suddenly tightened, and the armor plates clanged.

A sudden north wind blew up in the poplar forest, blowing fine snow onto the black armor.

Li Yi's heart was beating violently as he stared at the short man, who was no more than five feet tall. However, such an inconspicuous little man was extremely strong and brave, and was a famous enemy of ten thousand men in the late Sui Dynasty.

Who would have imagined that this was the man, only nineteen years old, who had cut off thousands of noses on the battlefield.

Li Yi knew that he could not win today by force, and his only chance of survival was to persuade Wang Shichong to surrender by taking advantage of the rift between him and Wang Shichong.

"I heard that General Luo was seriously injured and captured last year. Wang Shichong treated the general very well at first, personally changing his dressings and even eating and sleeping with him? But not long after, after Wagang Bing Yuanzhen, Shan Xiongxin and others surrendered, Wang Shichong immediately ignored the general and slept with Shan Xiongxin and the others?
Wang Shichong even married his two brothers' daughters to Shan Xiongxin and Pei Xingyan respectively, and appointed Bing Yuanzhen as Xingtai Pushe. On the contrary, General Luo was not even appointed as a general manager or a governor?

Wang Shichong's nephew Wang Daoxun took a fancy to your lion stallion and asked for it. When you refused, he brought his men to your stable to rob it. He broke several ribs of the men who had followed you through thick and thin, and beat them nearly to death.
After hearing the news, you rushed home and injured Wang Daoxun and took back the Lion Stallion. But when the matter came to Wang Shichong's attention, how did he deal with it?
I heard that Wang Shichong said to you, "My nephew loves horses as much as Shi Xin loves spears. If he wants to exchange a horse for harmony in the royal family, don't you think it's not worth it, Shi Xin?"

Hahaha, General Luo, you are a brave and valiant general, but how did Wang Shichong treat you? You were only seriously injured when he captured you, and he still treated you like this. Why would you risk your life for him?
When Sui lost its power, all the heroes in the world chased it.

But who in the world doesn’t know that Li should be the emperor?

The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty is the true emperor. General Luo, the Emperor of Chang'an is open-minded, tolerant and generous, and he is also a man of great talent and strategy. He is a truly wise ruler.

General, why don't you abandon the dark and join the light?"

Luo Shixin stood in the cold wind holding the spear. He clenched his teeth and struggled internally, but the spear slowly dropped a few inches.

"Who are you?"

Li Yi rode forward and came to the front of the formation, stopping about ten steps away.

"I am Li Yi, the founding marquis of Qianshui County in the Great Tang Dynasty, granted the title of Zongzheng (Zongzheng), the Chief Inspector of the Fengyi Palace, the Inspector of the Crown Prince's Left Guard, the General of the Cavalry, and the Honored General. I am also the secretary of the Crown Prince's camp."

As he spoke, he tapped the horse's belly with his boot heel and slowly moved forward again.
"I wonder how many horses are left in the general's tent?"

"I also wonder if the broken bones of the general's soldiers, who have fought alongside him through thick and thin, have healed."

"In terms of ability, the general is no less capable than Bing Yuanzhen, but that greedy fellow was appointed as the Minister of War of Huazhou simply because he bribed Wang Shichong's brothers and was able to flatter them.

Shan Xiongxin is not necessarily more courageous than you, but he was appointed a general and became the son-in-law of Wang Shichong's nephew.
General Luo is a man of unrivalled courage and a renowned general throughout the land, yet now Wang Shichong has made him a centurion and sent him on a reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines, which is merely the job of a lieutenant colonel. Why should the general stay in Luoyang if Wang Shichong treats him so poorly?

If the general were to abandon his evil ways and join the good, I daresay the Emperor of Chang'an would generously grant him the position of General Manager or Inspector, or at least a title of Marquis. If he were to pacify Wang Shichong in the future, he would most likely even be made a Duke."

"You little brat," Luo Shixin said, noting Li Yi's youth, "you're just talking nonsense."

"To be honest, Li Yi was a Taoist priest at Wuji Temple before this summer. He returned to secular life that summer. Within a year, he made some minor contributions. Every time, the saints bestowed titles and honors on him. From a baron of Qianshui County to the current Marquis of Qianshui County, he was even given purple gold and a vassalage title.

I, Li Yi, do not have the ability of General Luo. Even a commoner like me can receive such a reward from the Saint. If General Luo returns to the court, will Your Majesty treat him poorly? "

"General, it's really not worth it to work for someone like Wang Shichong."

Luo Shixin recalled the scenes of his surrender to Wang Shichong.

I am indeed very upset and feel deeply ashamed.

He raised his lance and shouted, then stabbed the lance heavily into the ground.

In the flying snow,
Luo Shixin jumped off his horse,
"You are right. Wang Shichong is suspicious by nature and likes to believe in slander. Such a person is not worthy of me, Luo Shixin, following him."

Li Yi was overjoyed, "Welcome, General, to join the light."

"I have several troops nearby, all of them my old subordinates, about a thousand cavalrymen. I will send someone to gather them."

Li Yi escaped the disaster. He knew that if he failed to persuade Luo Shixin today, his grain transport team would definitely not escape the disaster. He could not even defeat these two or three hundred cavalrymen, not to mention the thousands of people nearby.

"I will immediately report this good news to the Crown Prince and the Emperor in Chang'an. Your Majesty will surely be overjoyed to hear that General Luo has returned."

Luo Shixin just kept silent. He had followed Zhang Xutuo into battle since he was fourteen years old. In the blink of an eye, six years had passed. After the defeat at Dahai Temple, Zhang Xutuo died. He and Shubao followed Pei Renji and his son to join the Wagang Army under Li Mi. After the battle of Mangshan, Li Mi was defeated and fled to Guanzhong. After being captured, he surrendered to Wang Shichong of Luoyang.
Now that he has switched allegiance to Li Tang again, he has become somewhat numb. He doesn't know when this chaotic world will end, and he is tired of drifting with the tide. He hopes that he can have a good home this time.

(End of this chapter)