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

Chapter 328 King Qin Strikes on Ice
Tongzhou.

Outside the Changchun Palace gate, at the Yellow River ferry crossing.

The snow was falling heavily, the wind was biting, breath turned to ice, and even the red flag was frozen solid.

Prince Qin, Li Shimin, led 30,000 infantry and cavalry in a procession to receive the emperor's inspection.

Emperor Li Yuan rode slowly past the battle lines.
Finally, the imperial horse was brought to a halt under the six banners of the central army.

"Bring me wine; I wish to send off the King of Qin!"

The palace eunuch Lu Kuan held up a sandalwood tray, on which rested a pair of dazzling crystal wine glasses.

The cup is thin and translucent.

Black background with red poles, adding a touch of elegance.

Lu Kuan opened a bottle of Gaochang red wine and poured it into the exquisite glass.

The ruby-red wine looks even more beautiful in these glasses.

Half red, half black; half flamboyant, half reserved.

"These glasses were presented to me by Li Yi before. He said they were made of crystal glass and would be especially elegant for drinking red wine."

Today, I offer you this red wine to celebrate your departure, wishing you a resounding victory and swift success!

Li Shimin took the cup from his father. The stem was thin, but the base was thick, giving the cup a substantial weight in his hand. The rim of the cup was smooth and rounded.

Grapes and fine wine in a crystal glass.

"Thank you for the wine, Your Majesty."

He downed the glass of red wine in one gulp, treating it as the blood of Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang.

Li Yuan also raised his glass and drank the red wine.

He gazed at the exquisite cup in his hand. "With Li Yi in Haozhou, you don't need to rush. Take it one step at a time. I trust you."

Li Shimin placed the empty cup back on the tray.

Turn around and mount your horse.

The armor plates clanged.

"Cross the river!"

It was early November at this time.

The Yellow River at Longmen section is already covered with thick ice.

The drums and horns sounded.

Thirty thousand infantry and cavalry, guided by the red banners of the Tang Dynasty, stepped onto the solid ice.

Several teams lined up in a long queue on the ice, walking on the ice.

Li Yuan stood in the cold wind, watching his second son's banner head eastward.

"Lu Kuan, pour me another cup of wine."

"Your Majesty, it's cold outside and the wine is cold, so please don't drink it."

"No problem, have another one."

The cold liquor went down my throat.
"The imperial edict proposes to establish the Xizhou General Administration Office in the four prefectures of Xi, Ci, Xide, and Beiwen, and to appoint Liu Dewei as the Inspector General of Xizhou and Governor of Xizhou, and to promote him to Duke of Pengcheng County, and to add the title of Right General of the Martial Guard and the title of Pillar of State."

North Wenzhou was established in Wenquan County. Lu Chisong, the Duke of Gu'an County and the Imperial Guard Commander, was appointed as the Prefect and Chief Administrator of the Xizhou General Administration. Zhang Lun, the Duke of Xihe County and the Right General of the Valiant Guard, was appointed as the Prefect of Xidezhou and the Chief Military Advisor of the Xizhou General Administration.

The four prefectures of Xichuan and Cizhou each had 20,000 troops, with Lu Chisong and Zhang Lun each commanding 5,000 and stationed in their respective prefectures, while Liu Dewei commanded 10,000 troops and stationed in Xichuan and Cizhou.

"Send someone to pacify Liu Jizhen of Lishi. As long as he surrenders, I will retain his imperial surname, the title of Prince of Pengcheng, the Governor of Shizhou, and the Right General of the Imperial Guard!"

After swallowing the cold red wine, Li Yuan mounted his horse and returned to Changchun Palace.

He allowed Crown Prince Jiancheng to oversee the country in Chang'an, while he led 10,000 troops to Changchun Palace to support Erlang Shimin.

On the way back to the palace,

Li Yuan chatted with his in-law Lu Tong about Li Yi.
"It is truly a blessing from heaven for the Tang Dynasty. Li Yi is such a lucky star. Liu Shishan plotted a rebellion, and Li Yi was able to defeat Liu Liu'er and find out, thus averting a great disaster."

With Haozhou holding firm, Xizhou remained open.

This gave Li Yuan a lot of confidence. If Li Shimin couldn't make a breakthrough in Jiangzhou, he could summon Li Yi to lead troops south to reinforce him if necessary.

Alternatively, as long as Li Yi remains in Haozhou, Liu Wuzhou's main force will be unable to advance south.

As long as Li Yi continues to control the three passes of Sparrow Valley, Song Jingang's logistical and food supply will be difficult to maintain, and this will become increasingly apparent as time goes on.

Song Jingang has been stuck in Jiangzhou for over a month now.

The Tang army has managed to stabilize the situation.
Song Jingang's lack of reinforcements exposed their problems of insufficient troops and inadequate food supplies.

"Erlang's plan is correct. With Li Yi in Haozhou, he can relax a lot here and take his time to find opportunities instead of rushing into battle."

Lu Tong nodded, "Nowadays, among all the troops of the imperial court, Li Yi's force is actually the most capable in terms of fighting ability."

Originally, Li Yi had the largest army, but after the emperor separated the four prefectures of Xi, Ci, Bei, Wen, Xi, and De, he was left with only 35,000 men.

The troops under Li Xiaoji, the Prince of Yong'an of Yuzhou, and Dugu Huaien, the Minister of Works, were roughly the same size, but they had suffered many defeats and were not very strong in combat.

Li Shimin's army of 30,000 men, which was crossing the river, far surpassed Li Xiaoan's defeated and reorganized army in terms of both commanders and soldiers, equipment and morale.

Upon returning to Changchun Palace, Li Yuan had not yet had a chance to sit down.

"Your Majesty, an urgent report from Hebei states that Li Shiji and Guo Xiaoke have surrendered to Dou Jiande and have been appointed Left General of the Valiant Guard, continuing to garrison Liyang and defend against Wang Shichong. Guo Xiaoke has been appointed Governor of Weizhou, and Wei Zheng has been appointed Attendant-in-Ordinary."

"The Prince of Huai'an, the Princess of Tong'an, and the Duke of Shu, Li Gai, were taken back to Mingzhou by Dou Jiande."

"Li Shiji led troops to attack Wang Shichong's Huaizhou Huojia City, capturing many prisoners, all of whom were presented to Dou Jiande, who then issued an imperial edict to commend him."

Li Yuan remained silent for a long time before waving his hand.

"His Majesty?"

"Forget it. Li Shiji's father was captured by Dou Jiande, and he lost all his territory and troops. He only has two hundred cavalry left. It's normal for him to go back and surrender to Dou Jiande. Forget it, there's no need to pay attention to Hebei anymore. It's already completely corrupt anyway."

Now, in the entire Hebei province, only Li Yi of Youzhou in the north and Deng Song of Yingzhou in Liaoxi remain.

We can't worry about that now; we need to win this battle against Liu Wuzhou first.

He couldn't care less about his cousin Li Shentong or his younger sister Princess Tong'an.

"You may leave now. I need some peace and quiet."

Inside the main hall, all the palace servants and eunuchs withdrew.
Only Li Yuan remained, the place empty and desolate.

Hedong.

After Song Jingang captured Yicheng in Huizhou, he immediately took Quwo and Jiangxian, and then sent troops to besiege Wenxi.

Wenxi is located north of Xia County, separated by the Meiliang River.

In Xia County, the powerful Lu Chongmao proclaimed himself King of Wei and occupied the county seat. He had previously defeated Pei Ji, who had underestimated him and launched an attack.

After the three drums sounded, the generals gathered.

Inside the central command tent of the Tang army camp south of the city,

All the generals gathered.

The commander-in-chief was Li Xiaoji, the Prince of Yong'an, who was later appointed Minister of State Ceremonies after serving as the Governor of Shanzhou. The deputy commander-in-chief was Dugu Huai'en, the Minister of Works, and the chief secretary was Tang Jian, the Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat.
In addition, the newly appointed Governor of Shanzhou, Liu Yun, and the Military Governor of Eastern Shaanxi, Liu Shirang.

These troops were formed by reorganizing the original forces of Dugu Huaien, who besieged Puban, and the remnants of Pei Ji's defeated campaign against Hedong.

It was said to have 50,000 troops, but in reality, it also had more than 30,000 auxiliary troops.

On one side, there was the army that retreated all the way from Suoduyuan in Jiezhou to the Zhongtiao Mountains, while on the other side, they had besieged Pubanjiang City for two years without success, and even lost an emperor's son-in-law.

They're all a bunch of defeated generals.

However, Emperor Dugu Huaien, the emperor's cousin, looked down on Emperor Li Xiaoji, believing that Li Xiaoji was completely ignorant of military affairs and that the position of commander-in-chief should have been given to him.

"As you all know, the Emperor has decreed that the King of Qin has led 30,000 elite troops from Guanzhong across the frozen river to confront Song Jingang head-on."

The sage has given us the task of eliminating the Qin king's worries and taking Xia County and Puban.

"Gentlemen, what do you think we should do to fight this battle?" Lee Hyo-gi asked from the seat of honor.

Yu Yun, the governor of Shanzhou, suggested that while Song Jingang's troops were still besieging Wenxi in the north, they should quickly attack Xia County and remove this thorn in their side as soon as possible.

Although he was defeated and captured with Li Zhongwen in Queshu Valley, he was able to escape later. He then followed Li Yi and made meritorious contributions in Haozhou. Unfortunately, he was later summoned to Jiexiu by Pei Ji, where he suffered another crushing defeat. If he hadn't run away quickly, he would have been captured again like Jiang Baoyi, Liu Dewei, and Liu Hongji.

If he were captured again, he would surely meet the same fate as Jiang Baoyi and be killed.

Yu Yun was extremely grateful to be appointed as the Governor-General of Shanzhou by the emperor, and he was eager to make a name for himself.

"Your Majesty, what the chief steward said is incorrect."

Minister of Works Dugu Huaien stood up and loudly objected. His grandfather was Dugu Xin, his father was Dugu Zheng, his three aunts were all empresses, and his cousins ​​from two of his aunts' families had become emperors.

Once, when Li Yuan was drunk, he made a joke to Dugu Huaien, saying, "Cousin, your aunt's son has become emperor, shouldn't it be your family's turn too?"

Li Yuan was just joking, but Dugu Huaien actually took it quite seriously.

Yao Jun had always held onto Puban and refused to submit. Li Yuan sent men to besiege it for a long time but failed. Later, he sent his cousin with troops to attack, but ended up losing his own son-in-law in the process.

For two whole years, Dugu Huaien suffered heavy losses in Puzhou, unable to capture a single isolated city. Li Yuan and Li Shimin both reprimanded him for this, which made Dugu Huaien very dissatisfied with Li Yuan and his son.

At this time, seeing the Wu Zhou army advancing with unstoppable momentum, he actually harbored disloyal intentions. He secretly conspired with his confidant Yuan Junbao and Magistrate Chai Jing of Jie County to defect to Liu Wu Zhou, to fight against the Li Tang dynasty for Liu Wu Zhou, and to become a founding hero of the Liu Han dynasty.
They even devised a plan to bribe bandits in Zhongtiao Mountain to plunder Yongfeng Granary, which would disrupt the Tang army's supply route, so that Liu Wuzhou could annihilate Li Shimin.

He and Liu Wuzhou would then use the Yellow River as the boundary, with the land east of the Yellow River belonging to the Han army, while Guanzhong would belong to him.

It’s a beautiful thought.

However, this was all a private plan of theirs, and they hadn't even contacted Song Jingang yet. But now, by imperial decree, the Yu and Pu armies have been merged into one, with Prince Yong'an as the commander-in-chief.

Upon hearing Yu Yun's suggestion to quickly capture Xia County before Song Jingang arrived, he immediately became displeased.

"Your Majesty, Steward Yu is mistaken."

Previously, Prime Minister Pei had wanted to quickly defeat Lü Chongmao, but he underestimated his enemy and suffered a great defeat.

Although Lü Chongmao is a local tyrant and rebel, he now controls the city. Our army has no siege equipment, and although we have more than 30,000 men, how can we break through the city in this freezing weather?
Moreover, Song Jingang is located in Wenxi to the north, very close to us. On the other hand, the Prince of Qin is separated from us by Song Jingang and Lü Chongmao. If we attack halfway through our campaign, and Song Jingang launches an attack, our army will surely be defeated.”

Li Xiaoji nodded, "Minister Dugu's words make a lot of sense. So, in your opinion, what should we do?"

"It would be better to first besiege Xia County, build siege equipment, and prevent the bandits from roaming and causing trouble. Once the Prince of Qin defeats Song Jingang, Lü Chongmao will be nothing more than a bandit trapped in a corner, and the city will collapse on its own without a fight."

Lee Hyo-ki hesitated.

After experiencing a massive defeat that stretched from Jiexiu to Yuzhou, Li Xiaoji was no longer so confident.

Although Yu Yun and Liu Shirang both felt they should seize the opportunity, they lacked siege equipment and, despite facing a county town, had no good way to quickly breach it.

After some final discussion, Li Xiaoji adopted Dugu Huaien's suggestion to first besiege Xia County, but not attack, and to manufacture weapons.

If Lü Chongmao dares to come out of the city to fight, it will be exactly what we want. If he doesn't come out of the city to fight, then once the siege equipment is ready, we can naturally break through the city.

Even after the King of Qin defeats Song Jingang, Lü Chongmao may have to surrender voluntarily.

Lee Hyo-ki asked a question, "What if Song Jingang attacks?"

Dugu Huaien laughed and said, "The King of Qin has already crossed the Yellow River and marched into Jiangzhou, while Wenxi City has not yet fallen. Why would Song Jingang risk being attacked from both sides to come to the aid of a bandit like Lü Chongmao?"

"That's true." Lee Hyo-ki was finally relieved.

After the military meeting ended, Dugu Huaien immediately summoned his trusted confidant Yuan Junbao, saying, "Li Xiaoji is a good-for-nothing. I dismissed his idea of ​​a quick attack with just a few words. You should immediately send someone to Wenxi to secretly meet with Song Jingang."

Xia County city wall,

Lu Chongmao frowned as he watched the Tang army surround Xia County.

night,

He sent his son down the city wall under cover of darkness to seek help from Song Jingang in Wenxi City.

(End of this chapter)