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

Chapter 300 Li Yuanji

The enemy forces under Haozhou City currently number around 20,000, including over a thousand wounded soldiers under Liu Jizhen's command.

Xun Xiangjun had about 5,000 men, and Zhang Wansui led another 5,000 to reinforce them, along with 2,000 Turkic cavalry. However, according to Liu Liu'er, of the 10,000 men under Liu Wu and Zhou Zhou, only about 3,000 had come from Daibei to the south; the rest were newly recruited or forcibly conscripted men after they went south.

On paper, there are still 32,000 enemy troops under the walls of Haozhou.

However, there are only a few thousand elite soldiers.

Even those two thousand Turkic cavalrymen were actually only a few hundred elite riders; the rest were young men who gathered wild grass.

Li Yi sent 20,000 reinforcements, and Haozhou City had 3,000 reinforcements from Li Zhongwen, plus Liu Zhan's state troops, local militia, and newly recruited soldiers, totaling 5,000.

So,
Twenty-eight thousand versus thirty-two thousand.

Li Yi's side is short four thousand, but he still has the large city of Haozhou, Yong'an Fort nearby, and even Xiaoyi City is still in the hands of the Tang army.

The advantage is mine.

Moreover, the enemy is short of food.

When Liu Wuzhou invaded on Monday, Li Yuanji ordered all regions in Taiyuan to implement a scorched-earth policy, transporting all grain and fodder to cities and fortresses. The enemy was unable to completely rely on grain supplies and had to transport them from the rear.

Previously, Liu Jizhen transported 5,000 shi of grain from Shizhou, but it was robbed by Ji Sigong and Yu Jun.

Without supplies, morale will be low.

Bingzhou

Taiyuan City.

Taiyuan is the birthplace of the Tang Dynasty and a vital border town in the north.

The city consists of three parts: east, central and west. It is a famous chain city with an outer city wall that is 27 li in circumference and 4 zhang high.

The Jinyang Palace in the western corner of the city served as both a temporary palace and a war fortress. The palace contained granaries and armories, enabling it to be defended for a long period of time.

When Li Yuan raised his army, Pei Ji, then the supervisor of the Jinyang Palace, presented Li Yuan with 90,000 shi of grain, 50,000 bolts of silk, and 400,000 sets of armor, all stored there by the Sui Dynasty. These were military supplies for border defense that the Sui Dynasty had accumulated over many years, and he generously gave them all to Li Yuan, thus establishing Pei Ji's position as the foremost minister of the Tang Dynasty.

During the Daye era, Taiyuan was the third largest city in the country, after Chang'an and Luoyang.

After Li Yuan took control of Chang'an, he also placed his fourth son, Li Yuanji, in charge of Taiyuan, and the people he arranged to assist him were all quite distinguished.

Dou Dan, the Chief Clerk of the General Administration Office, was Li Yuan's son-in-law and also the Minister of Ceremonies. Liu Dewei, the Military Advisor, was originally a subordinate of Pei Renji, a general of the Sui Dynasty, who later joined Li Mi and then followed Li Mi to the Tang Dynasty. He held the position of Left General of the Martial Guard and concurrently served as the Military Advisor of the General Administration Office of Bingzhou.

Not content with this, the emperor dispatched Liu Zhenghui, the Vice Minister of the Imperial Guard and one of the meritorious officials from Taiyuan, and Zhao Wenge, the Director of Waterways, to Taiyuan to assist him.

Taiyuan is protected by the Taihang and Changshan Mountains to the east, the Mengshan Mountains to the west, the Huotaishan and Gaobiling Mountains to the south, and the Dongxing and Xixing Passes to the north. Therefore, it is called a place with four strategic passes.

A strategically vital location throughout history, Taiyuan also controls a major transportation route.

Such a place where dragons rose to power,
Li Yuan also left Yuanji tens of thousands of elite troops and enough grain to last for ten years.

The Hedong region was an important grain-producing area, as well as a rich salt-producing area. It was also close to the Turks, making trade in horses and camels convenient.

Hedong is a land bordered by mountains and rivers.
Taiyuan City was a fortified city, a land of plenty.

It was precisely because of these favorable conditions that Li Shimin, Li Yi, and others repeatedly submitted memorials, saying that Liu Wuzhou was going to lead the Turks to invade Hedong and attack Taiyuan.

From Pei Ji to Li Yuan, they didn't pay much attention.

Logically speaking, Taiyuan is an impregnable fortress, with high walls, ample food supplies, and a large army.

In fact, Liu Wuzhou initially only sent 20,000 troops, and the Turks only sent 10,000, initially just observing the battlefield.

Logically speaking, although Li Yuanji did not understand military affairs, he had several founding fathers under his command.

But now the situation is absolutely terrible.

In the main hall of the Bingzhou General's Office, ice was steaming in a bronze mirror. A landscape painting of Hedong was hanging inside, and a sand table of Hedong was in the center of the hall.

Sima Liu Dewei stood up, his voice low: "News has just come back that Yangqu County has also fallen."

Yuwen Xin frowned deeply, his brows furrowing into a deep frown. "Since the traitor Liu invaded, he has successively captured seven cities in my Bingzhou: Yuci, Pingyao, Shouyang, Taigu, Qixian, Jiexiu, and Wenshui," the Left Guard General said in a deep, resonant voice, his gaze fixed on the young prince in the hall.

Li Yuanji, the fourth prince and governor of Bingzhou.

Li Yuanji, however, sat there playing with a delicate little knife.

Yuwen Xin pointed to the city of Haozhou on the sand table, "When the rebels attacked Jiexiu, Taiyuan didn't send any reinforcements. Now the enemy is attacking Haozhou, and we must send reinforcements. If Haozhou falls, Taiyuan will be completely cut off by Liu Wuzhou."
Even if the Right Minister leads troops to reinforce us, they won't be able to get through."

Li Yuanji said dismissively, "Didn't the Emperor's decree say that Pei Ji has an army of 60,000 to command? We can just take back Jiexiu and Haozhou then."

"Your Majesty, it is extremely difficult to conquer a fortified city. The cost in terms of money and provisions and the number of casualties are enormous. How can we abandon the city so easily? Especially Haozhou, which we cannot ignore."

The fourth prince twirled the small knife in his hand, "Didn't His Majesty separate the Jie and Hao prefectures from my Bingzhou General Administration and establish the Lüzhou General Administration, and even appoint the seventeen-year-old Li Yi as its governor?"

"Haozhou is in grave danger, and this is Li Yi's duty to lead troops to its rescue. What does this have to do with my Bingzhou General Administration?"

These words made Yuwen Xin's face turn red with anger.
Li Yuanji, however, didn't care at all. He knew that this guy had repeatedly submitted memorials to Chang'an to speak ill of him, which had caused the emperor to send people to reprimand him several times. He was already fed up with this guy.

Last time, we should have sent Yuwen Xin with a hundred men to Huangshe Ridge to confront Song Jingang and use the enemy to finish him off.

Zhao Wenge, the Director of Water Conservancy, laughed and said, "Haozhou is a major city, and it's not something that bandits can just break through on a whim. In comparison, Taiyuan is the city that absolutely cannot be lost. We don't have many troops, so we still need to strengthen the defenses of Taiyuan."

Yuwen Xin slammed his fist on the table and roared, "The Duke of Xinxing was also a Sima of Yingyang Prefecture in the previous dynasty. How could he say such ignorant things?"

Don't you understand the principle of "if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold"? It's people like you who ruin the country. Faced with an invasion of a mere 20,000 men by Liu Wu, Zhou, and Song Jingang, you were so arrogant that you only sent 100 men to intercept them.
After all one hundred men were killed in battle, they immediately became terrified of the enemy, like ferocious beasts, and transferred all the troops around Taiyuan back to Taiyuan, leaving the defenses of the surrounding cities weak.

The enemy seized the opportunity to defeat them one by one, but you stood by and watched them perish, which is why you have now lost seven cities in succession!

Li Yuanji realized that this was a direct attack on him and narrowed his eyes in displeasure. "General Yuwen, if you want to discuss matters properly, why are you banging on the table?" "Liu Wuzhou has launched a large-scale attack and brought tens of thousands of elite Turkic cavalry. If we don't retreat to the main city, are we going to divide our forces and spread them out, putting thousands of men in each city? Wouldn't that make us even more vulnerable to being defeated one by one by the enemy?"

Taiyuan is the birthplace of our Great Tang Dynasty, and we must not allow it to fall!

"Zhang Da underestimated the enemy and his entire army was wiped out; Li Zhongwen underestimated the enemy and nine thousand men were surrounded and annihilated. Aren't these lessons tragic enough?"

Li Yuanji plunged the knife deep into the table.

"As long as we defend Taiyuan, we will be invincible. If we lose Taiyuan, we will be the sinners of the Tang Dynasty."

Liu Dewei held up the scroll and said, "Your Majesty, there are still 30,000 troops in Taiyuan City. The enemy has not yet besieged the city. They have only stationed more than 10,000 troops nearby to hold us back. There is no difficulty in defending the city. We can send three to five thousand men to reinforce Haozhou."

"Haozhou is indeed a city we cannot afford to lose, otherwise we will truly become an isolated city."

Li Yuanji looked at Chief Secretary Dou Dan. He actually got along quite well with this brother-in-law who was more than 20 years older than him.

Dou Dan looked at everyone, thought for a moment, and smiled as he said, "General Yuwen and Sima Liu have some merit. I think we can send a thousand infantry and cavalry to reinforce Haozhou."

"What good are a thousand people?"

"A thousand infantry and cavalry is already quite a lot."

Listening to their bargaining, Li Yuanji said, "Then let's do as Chief Clerk Dou says and send a thousand infantrymen to reinforce Haozhou." He originally wanted to name Yuwen Xin and have him lead the thousand infantrymen to Haozhou. But suddenly his eyes changed and he changed his mind and said, "Supervisor Zhao, you lead a thousand infantrymen to Haozhou and make sure to defend the city."

Yuwen Xin pointed to the two cities of Qingyuan and Jiaocheng in the southwest of Taiyuan on the sand table, "Liu Wuzhou's troops are also attacking these two cities, and they should also send reinforcements."

Li Yuanji sneered, "Are these two cities as crucial as Haozhou, absolutely not to be lost? I said, Taiyuan is the only city that absolutely cannot be lost. We don't have enough troops scattered around right now."

After saying this, he stood up, flicked his sleeves, and left, thus ending the military council.

Upon returning to the backyard of the governor's mansion, Li Yuanji immediately summoned his most trusted and valiant general, Xie Shufang.

Xie Shufang was in his early twenties and served as a servant to the King of Qi.

King Qi had his own troops, as well as the Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Guard Department, and the Treasury and the Digging Department. The Treasury was under the Imperial Household Department, while the Digging Department was under the Imperial Guard Department.

Kuzhi and Qudizhi were essentially equivalent to the emperor's Qianniu Beishen and Beishen Zuoyou, or the Crown Prince's Qianniu Beishen and Crown Prince's Beishen Zuoyou in the Eastern Palace.

Most of those who could fill the positions came from prominent families and noble scions.

Xie Shufang was born into the Xie clan of Chen Commandery. His father was Yangxia Gong, the Minister of the Imperial Treasury during the Sui Dynasty, and his ancestors were Xie Xuan and Xie Lingyun.

Li Yuanji said to Xie Shufang, who was three years older than him, "I think Haozhou might not be able to hold out either. Li Zhongwen is a real coward. We sent him to reinforce, but he was wiped out halfway there. He managed to escape, though. How come he wasn't beheaded?"

"Uncle Fang, we need to make plans early. Liu Zhan, the governor of Haozhou, is just a scholar; he knows nothing about warfare. Now the court has appointed Li Yi as the general governor of Lü Jie and Haozhou; that guy is even younger than me."

At this time last year, he was still a Taoist priest. What did he know? I don't know what the sage was thinking, making him the chief steward.

After Li Zhongwen became one of the Eight Pillars of State, he was captured. It is estimated that Li Yi will be captured soon as well.

I've already sent Zhao Wenge with a thousand infantry and cavalry to Haozhou. We should also pack our things quickly and be ready to leave at any opportunity.

Xie Shufang was extremely brave and fierce. Like Yuanji, he also liked to play with the horse spear. When Yuanji went hunting, he would even have his servants and concubines fight with spears, run around shooting people indiscriminately in the streets, and even break into people's homes in the middle of the night to humiliate women. Xie Shufang had done many of these outrageous things along with him.

"Taiyuan has 30,000 elite troops and enough grain to feed our soldiers for ten years. The city is high and the walls are strong. Liu Wuzhou only has tens of thousands of men. There is no need for them to run away."

"Taiyuan is such a big city. If a war really breaks out, who knows who in the city might be a traitor? Wasn't Jiexiu City breached by a monk who acted as an inside agent?"

Li Yuanji knew he was resented by the people of Taiyuan. He was used to being arrogant and domineering, and no one dared to do anything to him, the Prince of Qi and the Governor of Bingzhou. But now that a formidable enemy was at hand, who knew who might become an inside agent for the enemy?

No matter how strong or large a city is, it cannot be defended if there is someone inside who colludes with the enemy.

That damned Zhang Da, didn't he betray his country at Huangshe Ridge, leading the enemy to capture Yuci City?

Who knows how many people like Zhang Da and the monk Daocheng are in Taiyuan?

Having done too many wicked and immoral things in his life, Yuanji dared not keep him around.

Sending Zhao Wenge with a thousand men to Haozhou was part of his preparation for escaping.

"When Zhao Wenge goes to Haozhou, please help me to mix a batch of money, silk, and horses into the baggage train and take them with me,"

He planned to have Zhao Wenge send the 50,000 pieces of brocade, along with the gold and silver he had saved, and a thousand fine horses he had traded privately with the Turks, to Haozhou first, so that they wouldn't be unable to take them with them in a hurry.

Li Yuanji actually wanted to return to Chang'an right now.

However, he dared not abandon the city and flee easily. He would defend it as long as he could, and make preparations so that he could escape lightly if the situation turned bad.

"You need to handle this matter quickly and discreetly. You absolutely cannot let Yuwen Xin and Liu Dewei know about it."

Fifty thousand pieces of colorful silk and over a thousand fine horses—this was something he had collected for a long time, and he couldn't bear to lose it along with Taiyuan City.

Taiyuan is lost, it belongs to the country, but these 50,000 pieces of colorful silk and over a thousand fine horses belong to him personally.

Xie Shuwen accepted the order and left.
But after a short while, they returned.
"Why are you back again?"

"Your Majesty, Li Yi has sent someone."

Li Yuanji sneered disdainfully, "I told you so, they must have come to ask for help. Are they unable to hold on, or have they already fled?"

Xie Shufang's expression was somewhat strange. "No, Li Yi sent someone to deliver a report of victory."

"Good news, is it that you repelled the enemy scouts, or something else?"

"It's a great victory!"

(End of this chapter)