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

Chapter 299 Nine-Fish Maiden

Before the Yindi Pass,

On the banks of the Fen River, Yu Jiuniang was preparing bait for Li Yi. This Sogdian girl was very good at preparing bait. Her family lived on the hill. At this moment, her father, Yu Baonu, was on a small boat, casting his net on the shallows not far away.

The cicadas were pickled in rice wine, and it seems like some other things were added as well. This bait is much more effective than using earthworms directly.

Li Yi held the fishing rod, and the reed float had been bobbing up and down several times, but he still didn't react.

"Manager, the fish has taken the bait," Yu Jiuniang couldn't help but remind her.

Li Yi picked up his fishing rod.
But the fish had already finished their food and swam away.

Fish Sister helped re-bait the bait, and Li Yi cast his line again.

Qiu Shenyan, standing nearby, gazed at the flowing Fen River. "Chang'an is very hot and humid at this time of year. The nobles have all left the city to escape the heat. Some live by the Chan River at the foot of Changle Slope, some live in Fanchuan, ten miles away, and many others live further afield, at Wugong Villa."

Even the top noble families and powerful clans would go to their villas in Nanshan and Lishan for vacations and summer retreats.

"Ice stored up in winter is used to make crispy mountain. The bottom layer is ice and the top layer is crispy. It's sweet, cool and delicious."

Li Yi thought back to this time last year when he was still repairing Wuji Caotang and had just started a tofu skin workshop with San Niang. In order to sell the tofu skin to Mati Temple, he also had to play chess with Wang Lizheng and Monk Huiliao and cook for them.

Where can you eat crispy mountain delicacies?

Drinking iced drinks in summer was a luxury that only nobles could afford.

In winter, ice is chiseled out, stored in ice cellars, and covered with straw to preserve it until summer. Chiseling ice requires manpower, storing ice is even more costly, and a lot of ice is lost over the winter. The cost of an ice cellar is enough to cover the expenses of many families.

Of course, the nobles felt it was worth spending money to enjoy a piece of crispy mountain.

"fish!"

Seeing that Li Yi's fishing rod moved again, but he still didn't notice, Yu Jiu Niang came over and pulled the fishing rod directly.

A large crucian carp took the bait and was thrown out of the water.

The silver scales drew graceful arcs in the air, shimmering brightly.

"The steward wasn't paying attention while fishing, he kept getting distracted, and almost let this big fish get away again." The Sogdian girl laughed as she took the fish down and put it in a willow basket, letting it soak in the water.

"That big fish from Jiahubao shouldn't be able to escape this time, right?" Qiu Shenyan said with a smile.

"Then it's up to Liu Liu'er."

"I think Liu Liu'er has truly surrendered. Judging from his big head and thick neck, he doesn't seem like someone who would be very cunning."

"You can know a person's face but not their heart; that's not necessarily true. Let's wait and see. What he says may not be reliable, but we can observe his actions!"

Yu Jiuniang helped Li Yi re-attach the bait, and Li Yi cast the line again.

"Your bait is definitely better than my earthworms. I haven't had any bites for ages," Qiu Shenyan said with a smile.

“Fishing is too slow, we still have to use a net. If we don’t catch anything the first time, we’ll cast the net a few more times. If there are no fish in this spot, we’ll go to another spot to cast the net,” said Fish Sister Jiu from the side.

"Hahaha," Li Yi and his companion laughed loudly.

Jahu Fort.

A few wisps of bloody stench drifted by in the morning mist.
Liu Liu'er 'invited' Huang Ziying to the fortress wall.
The castle's four gates were tightly closed.

Below the fortress walls, Huang Ziying's several thousand men were surrounding the fortress, ordering the soldiers on the fortress to lower the drawbridge and open the fortress gate.

They didn't know what was happening in the fortress, but the sudden shouts of battle coming from inside, and the fortress gates still tightly shut, preventing them from entering the city, meant that something must have happened.

"General Huang, your subordinates are quite loyal to you," Liu Liu'er said with a smile.

Huang Ziying was shirtless, wearing only a pair of shorts, and looked quite disheveled.

He really didn't want to greet his subordinates like this.

But with gleaming swords and spears pointed at his back, he had no choice but to move.

"Li Yi is truly remarkable, I, Huang, am convinced." Huang Ziying exclaimed. He never imagined that he could defeat generals like Li Zhongwen, Wang Xingmin, and Liu Shirang, but in the end, he was defeated by Li Yi, a seventeen-year-old deputy chief.

He took a few steps forward,
Arriving at the battlements,
"Brothers, I am Huang Ziying..."

A commotion broke out below the city walls.
“I have surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, so you should surrender as well.”

The situation below became increasingly chaotic.

Liu Liu'er also stepped forward and loudly announced the policy given by Li Yi.

"By order of Li Yi, Grand General of the Imperial Guard, Commander of the Left Guard of the Crown Prince, General of the Army, Commander-in-Chief of the Military Affairs of Lü, Jie, and Hao Prefectures, Commander-in-Chief of Lü Prefecture, and Commander-in-Chief of the Lingshi Road Army, Duke of Anding Prefecture."

Anyone who lays down their arms and surrenders will be pardoned; those who resist will be killed without mercy!

"You are now trapped in Sparrow Valley, and I have taken Jahu Fort. You have no choice but to surrender!"

"Put down your weapons and surrender immediately!"

“Surrender, brothers!” Huang Ziying shouted.

Some people laid down their weapons.
More and more people are also abandoning weapons.
Having been trapped here for more than two months, often going hungry, many soldiers have long lost their will to fight. Now that their commander has been captured and is trying to persuade them to surrender, they are no longer willing to fight.

Among the thousands of men, some were unwilling to surrender, or rather, they did not believe they would be treated leniently after surrendering.

The Turkic general Zhishisulu drew his bow and nocked an arrow.

He fired an arrow at Huang Ziying, who was trying to persuade him to surrender from the city wall.

Liu Liu'er reacted quickly, shoving Huang Ziying aside. The arrow grazed Huang Ziying's face, leaving a bloody mark.

The attack on Sulu missed its mark.
He glared fiercely at the city wall and shouted loudly in Turkic.

His hundreds of Turkic light cavalry followed him and galloped away.

"Chase!"

Liu Liu'er shouted loudly,
The drawbridge was lowered, and Liu Liu'er's thousand cavalry gave chase. The two sides engaged in a mounted archery pursuit in the valley.
An hour later, Liu Liu'er's subordinates reported that the Turks were fast and more familiar with the terrain. They chased them into a mountain and found that the Turks had abandoned their horses and gone into the mountains.

"We were worried about an ambush, so we dared not pursue them too deeply. We could only search slowly. Those Turks must have fled on foot over the mountains."

Liu Liu'er looked at Huang Ziying. The defeated general said helplessly, "There is a narrow path in these mountains that stretches for thousands of miles. You have to cross mountains and valleys. The road is difficult to travel and not suitable for carriages or horses. Zhishi Sulu is from the Zhishi tribe of the Turks. He already knew about the path beforehand."

Huang Ziying already knew about this road, but because it was a path for herb gatherers, it was impassable by carriages and horses, and in some sections required climbing steep cliffs. Huang Ziying only used this road to send people out to communicate.
They had no intention of leaving this place.

Unless he abandons his thousands of men, or his thousands of men abandon their horses and armor, and instead march into the mountains on foot, what will they eat and drink?

Now, Sulu, with several hundred men, refused to surrender to Tang, but instead decisively abandoned the mountains and went into the mountains.

"Forget it, let them go." After hearing about the dangers of the Thousand-Mile Path, Liu Liu'er was too lazy to chase after them.

Taking Jiahubao, capturing Huang Ziying alive, and persuading several thousand men to surrender—the achievements are considerable.

"Huang will give General Liu another great achievement."

"Oh?"

The great achievement Huang Ziying mentioned was the 5,000 Tang soldiers.

Those were Li Zhongwen's men who were captured in the Battle of Sparrow Valley. Of the nine thousand men, only two thousand died in battle, and the rest were captured.

After a two-month siege, some wounded soldiers died due to lack of medicine and food.

There are still about 5,000 men left, and Huang Ziying has been trying to recruit them into his ranks.

They were barely clinging to life with a little thin porridge each day, so hungry they couldn't even lift a weapon, but at least they were still alive.

Liu Liu'er was overjoyed; this was indeed a great achievement.

Huang Ziying initially led 5,000 men and 1,000 Turkic soldiers south, fought a major battle, and suffered some wounds, but later recruited some new soldiers at Jiahu Fort to replenish his ranks.
Even some captured Tang soldiers joined in.

There are still about five thousand people who have surrendered.

Only a small number of people managed to escape in the chaos.

"Quickly report the victory to Chief Steward Li of Yindi Pass!"

"Yu Sabao, you are in charge of opening the granaries and distributing the grain, so that the five thousand Tang soldiers can have a good meal."

The post-war recovery efforts went smoothly.

Yu Run led the local Sogdian Hu to actively surrender.
Huang Ziying's five thousand men also disarmed and surrendered their weapons, and exchanged camps with the Tang army prisoners. The original prisoner-of-war camp for the Tang army was now their own.

Five thousand Tang soldiers were rescued and moved into Huang Ziying's former camp, while some of the wounded and sick were moved into the castle.

Liu Liu'er's own three thousand men,
One thousand men were stationed inside the fort, and two thousand men were stationed outside the fort.

The weakened 5,000 Tang soldiers, having retrieved their armor and weapons, rearmed themselves.

In the afternoon,

Liu Liu'er couldn't wait to take Huang Ziying, Yu Run, and Huang Ziying's officers of brigade commander rank and above to Yindi Pass to pay their respects to Li Yi.

Before the person arrived,
Good news arrives first.

Upon hearing of the great victory, Li Yi abandoned his fishing and threw down his fishing rod, running joyfully towards the pass. He accidentally tripped over a rock on the riverbank and slipped and fell.

Yu Jiu Niang helped him pack up his fishing gear and carried his fish basket, following behind him. She quickly helped him up, saying, "How come the great general who commands thousands of troops still falls down while walking?"

Qiu Shenyan followed with a smile, "Steward Li is just too excited."

He was also excited; he hadn't expected it to actually work.

With the fall of Jiahu Fort and the capture of Huang Ziying, Li Zhongwen's unfavorable situation of defeat was finally gradually reversed.

"I never expected that there would be five thousand soldiers in the Jiahubao prisoner-of-war camp."

Back to the pass,

Li Yi began to calculate the available troops at hand.

Seven thousand new surrendered soldiers were added by Liu Liu'er, five thousand surrendered soldiers were added by Huang Ziying, and five thousand captured Tang soldiers were rescued. There were also three hundred Sogdian private soldiers in Jiahubao.

rich,

Unprecedented wealth.

An additional 17,300 soldiers were added.

"The most gratifying thing is that the passage to Sparrow Valley has finally been opened." Li Yi was so happy that he was practically dancing with joy.

"Are you going to send troops to Haozhou next? Take me with you," Qiu Shenyan quickly said.

Li Yi looked at the map on the table.
"With such a large force at our disposal, we must make a trip to Haozhou. Liu Liu'er also said that the enemy forces in Haozhou are not in good condition either. They lack food and siege equipment. As long as we reach them, they will have no choice but to retreat."

Li Yi is now able to muster an army of 20,000, and is no longer afraid of the enemy besieging the city and attacking reinforcements.

"However, I intend to have you move to Jiahu Fort, which is a strategic location. I will give you three thousand men to guard Jiahu Fort: one thousand of the rescued officers and soldiers, one thousand of Huang Ziying's troops, and one thousand of Liu Liu'er's troops. You will lead the officers and soldiers to stay inside Jiahu Fort, and the remaining two thousand will be dispersed and reorganized to be stationed outside the fort."

"I'm handing over Yindi Pass to Li Cunxiao to take over from you."

"Sir, you've sent someone else to guard Jiahu Fort, but I still want to go to Haozhou City and make a name for myself."

"Jiahu Fort is very important. I entrusted it to you because I value your abilities highly. I wouldn't trust anyone else with this responsibility. If you can defend Jiahu Fort well, it will be a great achievement."

Three thousand men remained at Jiahubao.

Li Yi planned to combine the remaining 4,000 men of Huang Ziying's troops, 6,000 men of Liu Liu'er's troops, 2,000 rescued Tang soldiers, and another 2,000 men from his own forces to form a military camp.

The remaining two thousand rescuers of the Tang army took their place, replacing the two thousand who had been withdrawn, and stayed behind to guard several passes and fortresses.

Then allocate some local militia and laborers to the army camp.
That's a standard field army corps.

With his troops strong and well-equipped, Li Yi finally grew bolder and resolved to no longer cower under the tower.

"Steward, don't forget to report the victory to Chang'an immediately!"

"Yes, I almost forgot. Such a great victory should also alleviate your worries a little!"

(End of this chapter)