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

Chapter 327 The war breaks out again
The flames of war have reignited.

The atmosphere in Haozhou City immediately became tense. Li Yi dared not underestimate the Rooster King. After all, there were few who could carve out a place for themselves in the chaos of the late Sui Dynasty and now make the Li Tang Dynasty helpless.

After some urgent discussion
Li Yi agreed to let Li Zhongwen go to Wenshui City to provide reinforcements, and Li Yi also handed over the command of Wenshui City to him.

Standing atop Haozhou City, the fields were covered in thick snow, and the mountain peaks were all covered in white snow.

Empty silence.

Listen to the howling north wind, watch the snowflakes fall.
This is usually the season for hibernation, but now we have to prepare for war.

"Can't Liu Wuzhou just enjoy the winter? What's he doing all this in this cold weather?" Liu Heizi was wearing a fur robe over his iron armor and thick leather gloves.

I still feel very cold.
"Haozhou is much colder than Guanzhong. The wind is like a knife and it seeps into everything."

He misses Guanzhong, misses his wife and children, and realizes he may not be able to return to his hometown this year.

"Isn't everyone homesick?"

"Well, apart from this guy from Hedong, who among us from Guanzhong hasn't been away from home for more than half a year? Who doesn't miss home? That damned Liu Wuzhou has made it so we can't go home."

This war has indeed been going on for quite a while.

It's been half a year already, and we don't know how long we can hold out. The soldiers' longing for home is also a destabilizing factor.

"If we were at home, we'd be busy making persimmon liquor right now. We'd brew a pot of freshly made persimmon liquor, sit on the kang (heated brick bed), stir-fry some soybeans with pork cracklings, and have some stewed pig lungs or something. Seven or eight friends, sharing the meal, that would be so pleasant."

Li Yi laughed heartily, "A new bride, children, and a warm bed—you wouldn't trade that for anything, would you?"

"Hehe, if this battle continues, by the time we return victorious, the kids will probably all be gone."

In Haozhou City, heated brick beds were also installed in the soldiers' barracks. This was something Liu Heizi and Luo Wu were responsible for, and they worked on it for quite some time.

After the kang (heated brick bed) was set up, the soldiers found the cold winter nights a little easier to endure.

Moreover, it saves a lot of money compared to burning in a stove.

During wartime, fuel is an important resource.

Fortunately, Li Yi had been prepared, continuously collecting and stockpiling food and fuel. Haozhou also had coal, including open-pit mines that were being mined and utilized. Li Yi used the pretext of war preparedness to bring back a large quantity.

Not only Haozhou City, but also the other two cities, three passes, and four forts have stockpiled a lot of firewood, charcoal, and coal, so as not to fight an unprepared battle.

Some people initially thought that Li Yi might be using war preparations as a pretext to engage in the resale of coal, but now it has been proven that Li Yi was indeed farsighted and foresaw that this would be a protracted war.

With winter clothes, food, firewood, coal, salt, vegetables, and other necessities, Li Yi has now stabilized the Xizhou Pass, so it can be said that he is indeed invincible.

He was in better shape than Li Shimin; apart from being far from Chang'an, he was able to defend his position effectively against the enemy.

Even if Liu Wuzhou comes, there's no need to worry; Liu Wuzhou's troops might not even outnumber his.

The grass and trees are withered and desolate, and the sky and earth are silvery white.

This is really not a good time to fight. The Turks know to choose autumn to attack from the south because the horses are fat and well-fed in autumn and can withstand the exhaustion of marching.

When the Central Plains dynasties launched northern expeditions against the Turks, they generally tried to avoid going out in the autumn, when the nomadic peoples of the grasslands were at their strongest.

The Turks would try to avoid migrating south in winter, when it was freezing cold.

When the Central Plains dynasties launched their northern expeditions, they would try to do so when the weather was warm and flowers were in bloom. This was because the weather was warmer and the Turks' horses were thinner after a winter, making them the weakest fighters at that time.

It is by no means a wise move for Liu Wuzhou to attack Haozhou at this time.

After all, he started his career in the north, and his strength lay in his cavalry. Winter was the time when cavalry was at its weakest, and Haozhou was a fortified city with a large army.

"It's a good thing that we've drawn Liu Wuzhou's main force to attack Haozhou. This way, we've tied down his valuable troops and lightened the burden on the south,"

If Haozhou weren't stationed here...

Liu Wuzhou might head straight for Jiangzhou and attack Longmendu, or he might send troops to Zelu to sweep through the Shangdang region, or he might sweep through Xici in the west.

In the main hall of the governor's mansion,

The stove was started burning around 10 p.m., and the house was very warm.

Discussing military matters while brewing tea and roasting some dates, walnuts, and mulberries would be quite nice.

"When Liu Wuzhou attacks Haozhou, we can wear him down and make him suffer. Then, when the opportunity arises, we might be able to take him down just like we did with Huang Ziying."

If he ignores us, we'll just attack him from behind.

"If he dares to head south directly, then we won't be polite to him, we'll attack Taiyuan."

In the hall,

The group of generals were very relaxed during their discussion; two months ago, they certainly wouldn't have dared to be so confident.

But now, I've gained confidence.

They even dare to shout that they want to attack Taiyuan.

Military advisor Lu Chengqing sat behind Li Yi, helping him crack walnuts.

While cracking pine nuts, Li Yi put the roasted red dates, mulberries, and walnuts into a small earthenware pot and brewed them with tea leaves.

Red dates and mulberries are good things. They are everywhere, whether in Guanzhong or Hedong. When the imperial court granted land, it required the people to plant mulberry trees, as well as locust trees and jujube trees on their permanent land.

We can't not plant them.

Mulberry trees can be used to raise silkworms and weave cloth.
But dates are not only a fruit, they are also a type of grain.

Even in droughts, locust plagues, or floods, jujubes can still be harvested and, after being dried, become food.

Mulberries, once dried, can also be used as food.

During the Three Kingdoms period, the battle between Cao Cao and Lü Bu in Yan Province lasted for two years. In the middle of the battle, they encountered a locust plague. Eventually, both sides ran out of food and withdrew their armies.

At that time, the various warlords used all sorts of methods to feed their armies. Yuan Shao, in Hebei, fed his men mulberries, while Yuan Shu, in the Jiang and Huai regions, harvested river clams.

When Cao Cao's army passed through Xinzheng, the locals presented him with dried mulberries as tribute, which made Cao Cao dance with joy.

Jujubes and acorns are also highly adaptable, requiring little management, and their yields are quite good.

People like Yuan Shu in the Jianghuai region and Sun Ce in Jiangdong could still make a living by relying on the water, eating river clams, snails, fish, and shrimp.

Li Yi had previously requisitioned and purchased grain.
They not only bought grains like millet, wheat, and beans, but also dates, mulberries, acorns, and other fruits. When Luoyang was besieged, there were frequent food shortages, with a dou (a unit of dry measure) of rice costing several thousand taels of gold. On several occasions, there were even instances where ten taels of gold were used to buy a dou of rice.

Yao Junsu and Wang Xingben guarded Puban for three years, and it is said that they had already reached the point of cannibalism.

It is said that during the Battle of Yanzhou, Cao Cao's army had no food. Cheng Yu forcibly seized grain in Dong'e County and mixed it with dried human flesh to provide Cao Cao with three days' worth of rations. It is said that because of this incident, Cheng Yu was not able to rise to the rank of one of the Three Dukes.

Cao Cao was able to dominate the Three Kingdoms period because he learned enough lessons. He fought and farmed at the same time, establishing settlements and cultivating land wherever he fought. This is how he became the most powerful figure in the Three Kingdoms.

A skilled warrior achieves victory without ostentatious feats.

Skill isn't about how spectacular the battle is. A truly skilled warrior never fights unprepared and doesn't easily initiate a fight. Drawing your sword without any preparation is just recklessness.

Li Yi didn't understand military strategy and tactics, but he knew that war was all about logistics. Without supplies and equipment, no matter how good you were at fighting, it was useless.

When Emperor Wu of Han defeated the Xiongnu, the reason they were able to run rampant was not only due to their high morale, but also because of their superior equipment. This allowed the Han people to hold off the five barbarian tribes.

The meeting continued until noon.
Li Yi invited everyone to stay for dinner.

"A batch of cured meats just arrived from Guanzhong, so let's stew them in a clay pot for lunch and continue chatting while we eat."

Stir-fried cured pork with scallions, stewed cured pig's trotters with yam, steamed cured duck...

This newly arrived batch of cured meats was actually delivered by Li Yi's family. This year, Li Yi has been vigorously developing pig farming, not only raising pigs on his own farm but also giving piglets to tenant farmers and villagers to raise, thus gaining both pigs and fattening them up.

Li Yi owned salt fields in Jiechi.
Not only did they dry a lot of good salt, but they also took advantage of the southerly winds to scoop up a lot of loose salt from the lake.

Although raw salt is of poor quality, it is quite good for pickling vegetables, meat, and fish.

Pigs raised for a year are slaughtered in winter, then cured, dried, and smoked, quickly becoming savory and delicious preserved meats.

Luo San personally led the slaves of the Li family to transport the goods by cart and horse. Compared to transporting grain, these preserved goods were easier to transport.

For the Tang army holding out in Haozhou...
These are all really good things!
Whether it's cured pork, cured chicken, cured duck, cured fish, ham, sausage, or pickled vegetables and fermented tofu, they are all urgently needed by the army.

It's much better than vinegar cloth; it can be used for both meat and seasoning.

When steaming rice, add a few pieces of cured meat to the steamer; it's absolutely delicious.

The batch of cured goods that Luo San and his group delivered even included a lot of cured pork fat. Li Yi hadn't expected that pork fat could be cured without melting away; instead, it gave the fat a unique aroma.

Although the front lines have a considerable amount of food reserves, overall there is still a shortage of supplies, especially meat.

This lunch,
Everyone enjoyed the meal.

Li Yi was also quite happy. Not only could he improve the lives of the soldiers in Haozhou, but the cured meat from the Li family also found a good market and fetched a decent price, allowing him to make a fortune.

Li Yi's experiment of making cured meat using salt from the Jiechi Salt Field and his own pigs was a success. This year, the Li family's crops also yielded a significant increase in income due to the increased fattening from raising pigs.

The chicken and duck farming was a success, and they laid quite a few eggs.

The only potential failure was raising rabbits. Li Yi originally thought that rabbits could have several litters a year and were very prolific, but he only realized after actually raising them that while they could indeed reproduce, they were also excellent at burrowing and were not easy to keep in captivity.

The most troublesome thing is that if you raise them separately, one or two litters is fine, but if there are too many, they are prone to getting sick, and when one litter dies, another litter dies.

They eat even more than pigs; if you really think about it, it's better to raise pigs.

It's barely feasible for ordinary people to raise a small litter at home, either to eat or to sell as they go, but it's not suitable for large-scale farming.

If you really want to calculate it carefully, in terms of large-scale farming, sheep are actually the easiest to raise, followed by pigs, then chickens, ducks, geese, and even dogs are easier to raise than rabbits.

As everyone ate cured meat and warmed themselves by the stove, they weren't too worried about Liu Wuzhou.

Some people were even eagerly hoping that Liu Wuzhou would arrive soon so that the battle could be over quickly, and everyone could relax and hibernate peacefully.

Especially the current commander stationed in Xiaoyi City, Prince Huaiyang Li Daoxuan, a prince a year younger than Li Yi, always leads the charge in every battle, charging more fiercely than anyone else. He even kept pleading with Li Yi while gnawing on a piece of dried fish tail.
He wanted to take the initiative and lead his troops to ambush Liu Wuzhou.

"Everyone says Liu Wuzhou's nickname is 'Rooster King,' I'd like to cut off his head and take a closer look to see if he really does have a rooster's comb."

This caused everyone to burst into laughter.

(End of this chapter)