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

Chapter 306 Pei Ji's Military Order
"When we set off, it was springtime with lush grass and flying orioles, and now it's almost Mid-Autumn Festival with the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms."

As the forests of Lüliang Mountain gradually turned colorful, Li Yi, sitting atop Haozhou City, felt a chill in the air.

Looking out from a high vantage point, the fields on the outskirts of the city are almost ready for harvest. Millet, sorghum, flax, soybeans, and many other crops will ripen and be harvested around the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Liu Heizi also misses his hometown a bit. "My son can already crawl, but I haven't even met him yet. We haven't even named him. Ah Lang, please help me choose a name for my son."

Hei Zi's wife gave birth to a big, healthy baby boy after he went to war. The baby is now over 100 days old, and Hei Zi wrote back to give him the nickname "Black Egg".

"How about calling it Fenyang? Haozhou, where we are now, is located on the north bank of the Fen River. This is where you earned your official position through meritorious service," Li Yi said with a smile.

Liu Heizi is now a rank official, a deputy commander of the ninth-rank prefectural army, a proper rank official. As for his honorary post, he is already an eighth-rank official, and his meritorious official position has been promoted five times.

“Fenyang, Liu Fenyang, what a good name,” he thought. He felt that the character “Yang” was good, meaning sunny, masculine, and would definitely be strong. It also had commemorative significance.

"Shouldn't Lady Ji be due to give birth by now?" Liu Heizi asked.

"Yeah, waiting for news."

Luo Dafu, who had also been promoted to deputy commander of a ninth-rank team, looked at the gradually yellowing crops and said, "The auspicious golden potatoes should be ready for harvest again soon."

Li Yi planted a batch of potatoes in the Royal Forbidden Garden greenhouse last winter, and then another batch in the spring. Judging by the time, this summer-planted batch should be ready for harvest soon.

"I heard from Third Sister that Alang's family harvested a lot of sweet potatoes this summer, and they'll harvest another crop this fall, so they won't have to worry about sweet potato seeds next year, right?"

Li Yi nodded with a smile. He had harvested about a hundred catties of the batch he planted last winter in the spring. Li Yi also sold a batch of them. This auspicious treasure, which was only possessed by the royal family and high-ranking officials, was still desired by many people in Chang'an.

However, the price was different from the first time, when one could sell for fifteen taels of gold. He sold them for two taels of gold each, and after selling about a hundred, he made another three hundred taels of gold.

He used the remaining few dozen kilograms as seed and planted another three-tenths of an acre. In the summer, he harvested another crop. Because of the fertile soil and meticulous cultivation, this three-tenths of an acre yielded a thousand kilograms of potatoes.

Luo San Niang then sold half of her potato seeds. At this time, each potato seed sold for only one bolt of silk, a dramatic price drop. However, she still managed to sell about a thousand bolts of silk. The remaining potatoes were planted directly on two mu of land. Luo San Niang had previously written to say that the potatoes were growing well, and now the foremen in her family who specialized in growing sweet potatoes were also experienced. They estimated that these two mu of land would yield at least six or seven thousand jin in the fall.

"Next year, I'll give each of you twenty catties of potato seeds," Li Yi said with a smile.

After several crops of potatoes were planted, potatoes were no longer a rarity among the noble families of Chang'an. Initially, Li Yi sold them for fifteen taels of gold each, then two taels of gold each, and finally a bolt of silk each.
Next year, they'll probably only be worth a hundred coins each. After that, they might only be worth one or two coins each. In a few years, they might even be worth a whole basket for one coin.

"We should plant more sweet potatoes in the future; raising pigs would be a good option too."

Luo Dafu exclaimed in surprise, "How can such a precious thing be used to raise pigs? It's much better to eat it ourselves. We won't have to eat bran and wild vegetables so often anymore, and we can eat our fill regularly."

"Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon. With so many sweet potatoes harvested at Alang's residence, we must make sweet potato-filled mooncakes."

"Hahaha." Li Yi couldn't help but burst into laughter. Potato-filled mooncakes, how could they even think of that, and think it's so high-end?

Haozhou is a thousand miles away from Chang'an.

Ordinary correspondence is still very slow; it might take a month for one to go back and forth.

However, the transmission of urgent military intelligence was still very fast. It could be delivered by fast horse in two or three days, or even as fast as five days, and the information between Hao and Chang'an could be exchanged.

However, Pei Ji's reinforcements took a month to arrive.

"My lord, a troop of cavalry is coming, but they are not our men," Zhao Yong'an, who had been promoted to Colonel of the Cavalry, warned.

Far to the south of the city, a cavalry force was rapidly approaching Haozhou City.

The angels from Chang'an have arrived.

"It seems they have responded to Liu Jizhen's request to surrender," Li Yi said as he went down from the city wall to greet them.

It was an old acquaintance who came.

"Lord Lu, I never expected to meet you again,"

Lu Chisong was exhausted from the journey, changing horses but not riders along the way. He traveled from Chang'an to Haozhou in three days, which really made him feel like he was about to fall apart.

He smiled wryly and said, "We meet again."

Li Yi summoned the officials and generals of Haozhou City to respectfully welcome the imperial edict.

Liu Zhan, the governor of Haozhou, Zhao Wenge, the water conservancy supervisor from Bingzhou who led 1,000 infantry and cavalry to provide assistance, along with generals Li Zhongwen, Wang Xingmin, Liu Liuer, and Huang Ziying.

"Lord Lu, please proclaim the imperial edict."

Lu Chisong held the bright yellow imperial edict in his hands and stood facing north.

"Your Excellency: I have heard that quelling rebellions requires force, and suppressing turmoil requires virtue. I hereby appoint you, Li Yi, the Inspector General of Lüzhou and Duke of Anding, whose loyalty and integrity are renowned, and who possesses both wisdom and courage. Recently, when the Ji Hu were rampant and their bandits disturbed the Fen and Xi regions, and when Wu Zhou was arrogant and besieged Haozhou, you personally donned armor, braved the enemy's blade, and devised strategies that resulted in seven captures and seven releases, achieving victory in every battle."

You pacified and subdued Liu Liu'er's Hu tribes, burned their banners, and incorporated them into your ranks; you recaptured the strategic stronghold of Jiahu Fort, cut off the enemy's supply lines, and captured their generals and flags; you captured alive Huang Ziying, the valiant general who falsely claimed the title of Ding Yang, and took or killed 5,000 prisoners, greatly boosting our army's morale; you lifted the three-month siege of Haozhou, recovered seven fortresses including Wenshui, and rescued 5,000 captured soldiers. All of this was due to your ability to adapt to changing circumstances and your willingness to face dangers, truly embodying the spirit of "a dragon soaring over the Fen River and a leopard roaring over Mount Huo." You deserve to be granted additional honors to recognize your outstanding achievements.

He was granted the title of Right General of the Martial Guard, enfeoffed as Duke of Rong with a fief of three thousand households and actual fief of one hundred households, and appointed Military Governor of Lüzhou, concurrently serving as Left Guard Commander of the Crown Prince. All other duties remained unchanged.

Everyone was filled with envy when they heard the emperor praise Li Yi in such a way.

He was even more astonished when he heard that Li Yi had been enfeoffed as a Duke after a single battle and had also been granted the title of a centurion.

For example, Zhao Wenge, the Director of Water Conservancy, was one of the seventeen meritorious officials of Taiyuan appointed by the emperor after the founding of the dynasty. However, he was only granted the title of Duke of the County and appointed Director of Water Conservancy, without any real official title.

Li Yi's seventeen-year-old son was actually granted the title of Duke.

The emperor then issued another imperial edict to Li Yi.

Lu Chisong spoke to Li Yi in the tone of the emperor: "Wu Yi, you have made your imperial uncle proud. You are indeed a lucky general. You have made such a great contribution, and your imperial uncle will not treat you unfairly. You will be granted the title of Duke of the State. How about that?"
Haha, I have more good news to tell you. On the morning of the first day of the eighth month, your concubine, Lady Ji, gave birth to a son and a daughter. The son was born half an hour earlier than the daughter. Both are safe and sound. I sent Consort Yuwen to your residence to see them. They are healthy, plump, and look very much like you. You can focus on fighting in Hedong and return victorious soon.

finished,

Lu Chisong turned around and smiled at Li Yi, "Congratulations! Good things keep happening!"

Although it wasn't Li Yi's first time being a father, his heart raced and pounded when he heard that Ji Lingyi had safely given birth to a pair of healthy twins.

"Congratulations,"

Everyone came to congratulate them.

"Duke Rongguo, you are truly enviable," Zhao Wenge chuckled.

While congratulating Lu Chisong, Li Zhongwen and Yu Xingmin looked at him expectantly, wondering if there were any imperial decrees concerning them.

"Lord Lu, has His Majesty replied to Liu Jizhen's decree? General Li and others have also made great contributions. I petitioned the Emperor to reward them. Has the Emperor received my request?"

"Yes, we have them all. Don't rush, we'll take them one at a time."

Lu Chisong smiled and told everyone that the emperor had agreed to Liu Jizhen's surrender and bestowed upon him the imperial surname, the title of Prince of Pengcheng, and the positions of Grand General of the Right Guard and Governor-General of Shizhou. His younger brother, Liu Liu'er, was also granted the imperial surname, the title of Duke of Loufan, Grand General of the Right Guard, Governor-General of Lanzhou, and General of the Left Guard.

Huang Ziying, a general who surrendered, was appointed Prefect of Xinzhou.

"His Majesty has dispatched Zhang Lun, a Grand Master of the Palace, to Lishi to deliver an imperial edict and offer condolences."

When Li Yuan first raised his army, although the rebellion of the Hu people in Lishi had been quelled, they were still restless. So Li Yuan sent Jiancheng Shimin to lead troops to pacify Xihe, and also sent Zhang Lun to lead a detachment to Lishi.

Zhang Lun was quite capable. He killed the prefect Yang Zichong, marched south, and finally joined forces with the emperor at Longmen. He not only pacified and subjugated several counties in the west, including Lishi, but also provided the emperor with an army.

It was precisely because Zhang Lun entered Lishi, killed the Sui governor, and took away the officials and soldiers of several counties in Lishi that Liu Jizhen and his men had the opportunity to take advantage of the situation, kill the Tang governor, and seize Lishi.

"If Lord Zhang is ordered to pacify the counties of Lishi, then Lüliang will be at peace."

Li Zhongwen finally couldn't hold back any longer, "Lord Lu, I wonder if His Majesty has any decree for us?"

"Have."

Lu Chisong then produced another imperial edict.

Li Zhongwen restored the official titles of six generals. Li Zhongwen was reinstated as the Duke of Zhenxiang County, the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, the Inspector of Jiezhou, and the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Lingshi Road Army.

Wang Xingmin was reinstated as General of the Right Guard and appointed Chief Clerk of the Lingshi Road Army.

“Lord Zhenxiang, His Majesty was very pleased to hear of your achievements in Haozhou while in Chang'an.”

Li Zhongwen finally smiled, and Wang Xingmin also breathed a sigh of relief.

The two surrendered generals, Liu Liu'er and Huang Ziying, were all smiles, finally gaining the approval of the Tang emperor and thus having official status.

One is the governor of Lanzhou, and the other is the prefect of Xinzhou, although both Lanzhou and Xinzhou are still in Liu Wuzhou's hands.

"Duke Rong, His Majesty is eagerly anticipating your cooperation with Prime Minister Pei to recapture Jiexiu, and then march north to Taiyuan to defeat Wu Zhou."

was saying,

Pei Ji's messenger has arrived.

"The Duke of Anding receives the military order from Prime Minister Pei!"

Lu Chisong reminded the messenger who had just entered, "His Majesty's decree has just been issued. Lord Li is now the Right Martial Marquis General, the Duke of Rongguo with the title of Hundred-Household Commander, and the official Governor of Lüzhou."

The messenger was stunned for a moment.
"I was unaware, please forgive me, Duke Rong."

"Let's issue Prime Minister Pei's military order first."

Pei Ji ordered Li Yi to quickly send 20,000 troops to Jiexiu City to meet him, and specified that Li Yi should stay in Haozhou, while Li Zhongwen, Wang Xingmin, Liu Shirang, and Yu Yun should lead troops there.

The other two lieutenant generals were probably overlooked by Pei Ji because their official ranks were too low.

"Duke Rongguo, Prime Minister Pei has instructed you to immediately mobilize troops under the command of General Li and others, and to arrive at Suoduyuan, south of Jiexiu City, within three days."
Anyone who delays the military campaign will be executed!

Li Yi frowned involuntarily.

Where is Prime Minister Pei now?

"Pei Xiang's vanguard has already reached Lingshi, while he is still in Jiahu Fort, fifty miles south of Lingshi."

How many troops does Prime Minister Pei have?

"The entire army numbers over 40,000, but 20,000 are auxiliary troops. However, Prime Minister Pei has already ordered the troops from Huoyi, Jiahu Fort, Fenshui Pass, Yindi Pass, Lengquan Pass, Yong'an Fort, Zhangbi Fort, Zhangnan Fort, and other places to gather at Suoduyuan in Jiexiu."

If we add the 20,000 men here with the Duke of Rong, then Prime Minister Pei will have an army of 80,000.

"We will surely be able to recapture Jiexiu in one fell swoop and march straight to Taiyuan!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yi's heart skipped a beat, and his expression turned grim.

(End of this chapter)