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

Chapter 334 Reveals the True Colors of a Tyrant
In Jiexiu city,

Liu Wuzhou slept soundly for a full day and night before waking up.

He didn't ask about the war when he woke up.

He simply had someone bring him wine and meat.

He used a wrist knife to cut the mutton off the bone, then wolfed it down in large chunks, occasionally taking a big gulp of wine.

Liu Wuzhou remained silent, focusing solely on eating.

for a long time,

After consuming several kilograms of meat and wine, Liu Wuzhou finally stopped, letting out a satisfied burp.

While wiping the knife, he glanced at Yuan Junzhang, the Grand Secretary, Yang Funian, the Right Minister, and others.

"What's going on now?"

"The situation isn't good," Yuan Junzhang replied while brewing strong tea for his brother-in-law. "Li Daoxuan is still blocking the city, and in addition, Fan Botong is stationed at Zhangnan Fort in the north, Zhang Dezheng at Zhangbi Fort in the south, and Li Daozong at Yong'an Fort in the west."
Jiexiu City is now surrounded on all sides, and there are only about 12,000 soldiers and troops left in the city, of which fewer than 8,000 are armored and only about 3,000 are cavalry.

The charcoal fire in the small stove was burning brightly.
The water in the silver kettle quickly boiled, bubbling away. Yuan Junzhang pried off a piece of tea cake and put it into the kettle.

The aroma of tea gradually filled the air.

Liu Wuzhou rubbed his face.
"anything else?"

“We sent out several light cavalry units to gather troops and ordered them to move closer to Jiexiu, but the Tang army blocked the way from the outside. The light cavalry we sent out to deliver the orders suffered heavy losses.”

Liu Wuzhou frowned. "I never thought that I, Liu Wuzhou, who spends my days hunting geese, would end up being pecked in the eye by a goose. I admit that I underestimated Li Yi."

Add some ghee and salt to the tea.

"Your Majesty, the light cavalry we sent out reported that Li Yi is mobilizing troops to besiege Lingshi. The siege equipment we previously transported to Haozhou City is now being transported to Lingshi by prisoners."

"Your Majesty, the spirit stone must not be lost. If the spirit stone is lost, then the Song King and his men in the south will be trapped there and unable to return, and they will no longer be able to replenish their supplies."

Liu Wuzhou cursed, "Damn it, they're taking advantage of my illness to kill me, each move is more ruthless than the last."

Yuan Junzhang couldn't help but suggest, "Your Majesty, I believe the most important thing now is not Lingshi, but Your Majesty's safety, and the safety of Taiyuan and Mayi. I worry that the Tang army's attack on Lingshi is a pretext; they may actually be trying to cut off our rear. If they take the opportunity to attack Taiyuan, Yanmen, and Mayi, the consequences will be unimaginable."
Your Majesty, I urge you to immediately lead your troops in a breakout, retreat to Taiyuan first, and then discuss the matter further.

Right Minister Yang Funian objected.

"Your Majesty, this is absolutely not allowed. Even if we can retreat to Taiyuan now, what about the area south of Taiyuan? Are we just going to ignore everything else?"

Yuan Junzhang and he started arguing.

Liu Wuzhou glanced at Guo Jing, the Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, and Xue Shen, the Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat. Both of them were powerful figures in Taiyuan and were the meritorious officials who opened the city gates to let him in.

"What suggestions do you have, Lord Guo and Lord Xue?"

Guo Jing, who was quite old, did not look well. "I think the most important thing now is to send someone to contact the Turkic Khan Chuluo as soon as possible, send more gold, silk and women, and ask him to send troops to rescue us."

Liu Wuzhou stroked his beard. "You've mentioned the Turks. I'm reminded of Shibobi. Where is he?"

“In Pingyao City to the north, we sent people to summon him to Jiexiu, but he has not responded.”

"Damn it, the Turks are unreliable!" Liu Wuzhou cursed.

"We can only ask Chuluo Khan for help. Nibushe only has three thousand men, and he is too busy to help himself. We can't count on him."

“Alright,” Liu Wuzhou said through gritted teeth after thinking for a while, “After dark, Junzhang, you and Fu Nian will leave the city together under cover of darkness. Fu Nian, you will go back to guard Taiyuan, recruit troops, and strengthen defenses.”

"Junzhang, return to Mayi, raise troops, and go as an envoy to the Turks. Go personally to see Chuluo Khan, and send him plenty of gold, silk, and women. Tell him that once Chang'an is captured, I will give him Taiyuan and the entire Bingzhou, as well as Fengzhou and Shengzhou in the Hetao region, to the Turks for horse breeding."

“As long as he is willing to send troops, any conditions are negotiable. I will also give him half of the money, silk and women in Chang’an.”

"I, Liu Wuzhou, am definitely more trustworthy than Li Yuan."

At this point, Liu Wuzhou didn't care about anything else. He was a generous and daring person. When Song Jingang brought four thousand men to join him, he was willing to give him half of his family property, marry his sister to him, and make him the King of Song.

"What about His Majesty?" Yuan Junzhang asked. "Why don't we break through together?"

"No, if I retreat now, these tens of thousands of people will be wiped out completely. I have to stay here, not only to protect Jiexiu, but also to protect the spirit stones."
Tonight, I'll personally go and meet Li Daoxuan. I want to know just how capable he really is. You and Fu Nian can take the opportunity to leave then.

Guo Jing and Xue Shen also wanted to return to Taiyuan, but Liu Wuzhou didn't say a word.

"Your Majesty, there is something I must remind you of. There is not much food in Jiexiu City. Previously, it was all transported from Taiyuan. When we went to conquer Haozhou, most of the food in the city was transported with the army. Now there is at most half a month's worth of food."

Liu Wuzhou picked up the silver teapot, poured himself a cup, and then poured a cup of tea for everyone else.

"I forgot about that. I remember that Daocheng's Longquan Temple has grain. Now that the country is in crisis, Daocheng, as the national preceptor bestowed by me, should do his part."

"Let's borrow the grain from Longquan Temple first."

Guo Jing reminded Liu Wuzhou that Daocheng had previously colluded with the Han army because of the Tang army's request for grain from Longquan Temple, using Buddhist banners to lure the Han army into the city and seize control of the city gates.

"Does that bald monk dare to rebel again?"

“Forget it,” Liu Wuzhou waved his hand, “find an excuse to kill Daocheng and all those bald monks from Longquan Temple, and confiscate all the grain.”

Guo Jing was surprised.

Liu Wuzhou, however, dismissed it and began to drink his tea.

Guo Jing then realized with alarm that the Han emperor before her was no benevolent ruler. Back when Liu Wuzhou was in Mayi, the prefect Wang Rengong had treated him exceptionally well, even allowing him to live in the front courtyard of his own residence. However, this man had secretly committed adultery with Wang Rengong's concubine. When the affair was exposed, he preemptively killed Wang Rengong and raised an army in rebellion.

He was a ruthless and cunning man in chaotic times. When pushed to the limit, he was capable of anything.

···
Yong'an Fort.

Li Daozong entered the military hall, followed by Li Zhongwen and a Turkic nobleman.

The man was very young, with long hair tied back, wearing a fur-trimmed veiled hat, a gold earring in one ear, and a leather jacket with a turned-down collar, over which he wore a silver fox fur cloak.
He wore a gold and jade belt around his waist, from which hung a wolf-head scimitar.

Li Zhongwen bowed to Li Yi: "Duke Rong, this is the son of Shibi Khan of the Turks, Nibushe Ashina Shibobi, who governs the eastern Turkic region and oversees the Xi, Xi, and Khitan tribes."

"Nibu She, this is none other than Lord Li, the Grand Pillar of State of the Great Tang Dynasty, Right Grand Master of the Palace, Champion General, Right Martial General, Inspector General of Bingzhou, Imperial Envoy and Military Commander of the Imperial Guard, concurrently Left Guard of the Crown Prince, Grand General of the Bingzhou Road Army, granted the title of Imperial Clan Official, and enfeoffed as Duke of Rongguo with a fief of three thousand households and a real fief of three hundred households,"

Nibushe sized up the Li Tang chief steward, who was also only seventeen years old. "That title is certainly long," he thought.

They're really young.

"The moment I met Duke Rong, I felt an instant connection with him. We must have been brothers in a past life. If Duke Rong doesn't mind my humble appearance, I would like to swear an oath of brotherhood with him."

No one expected that,
This Turkic leader, Nibushe, made this request right from the start.

Li Yi had already figured out Nibushe's identity: he was the son of Shibi Khan, and was currently Nibushe. After Chuluo Khan died, his other uncle would become Jieli Khan and would then appoint him as Tuli Little Khan.

He will be a figure of great status and power in the future Turkic Khaganate.

But you're still young.

This time, Chu Luo transferred him to support Liu Wuzhou, and he only had three thousand men under his command. In the end, he didn't get much benefit and was blocked by Li Yi in Pingyao City.

Li Zhongwen used to frequently travel to the Turkic Khaganate as an envoy, and naturally had to curry favor with Shibi Khan, so he also had a good relationship with Shibi's son, Shibobi.

Faced with Shibobi, who had retreated to Pingyao, Li Zhongwen did not choose to launch a direct attack or ignore him. Instead, he took the initiative to meet with him and said some words that moved him, which led to the scene where he followed Shibobi to Yong'an Fort to pay his respects to Li Yi.

Li Yi smiled slightly at the Turkic man who wanted to become sworn brothers upon meeting him.

“Nibushe and I hit it off immediately; we might have been brothers in a past life,”

"Then let's become sworn brothers and continue being brothers." Shibobi laughed and stepped forward to take Li Yi's hand.

"If you won't abandon me, then let's become sworn brothers!"

Li Yi agreed.

Nibushe was in a hurry; he didn't even bother with any ceremony, simply pulling out a butcher's knife and making a cut in his palm.

"Bring me wine, I want to drink blood wine with my brothers."

Helpless, Li Yi had no choice but to cut his own palm as well.

Their blood dripped into the wine glass.

The two drank from the same cup of blood wine, then swore an oath to heaven, becoming sworn brothers.

For a person's birth date and time,
As it turned out, Li Yi was actually a little bigger than Shi Bobi.

“Brother.” Shibobi was a straightforward person.

"Second brother!" Li Yi greeted him with a smile.

After they swore brotherhood, the atmosphere became very pleasant.

Shibobi immediately agreed to hand over Pingyao to the Tang army for garrisoning, and his three thousand men ceased to assist Liu Wuzhou.

Of course, without Chuluo Khan's orders, it wouldn't be appropriate to immediately help the Tang army fight Liu Wuzhou.

"Brother, I heard that the persimmon wine is brewed by your family?"

"Um,"

"Is it alright for the second brother to want to buy some persimmon wine from the eldest brother?"

Shibobi pulled Li Yi aside and began discussing business. He said he had many horses, cattle, sheep, and furs that he could sell to Li Yi.
You can trade persimmon wine, tea, silk, or gold, or exchange them for prisoners of war or slaves.

He remains neutral in war, but he is quite willing to cooperate deeply in trade.

"Okay," Li Yi readily agreed.

The atmosphere in the hall became increasingly pleasant.
Li Yi was quite polite to Shibobi, even though he was the son of Shibi Khan and the nephew of Chuluo Khan, and now the governor of Nibushe in the east. Previously, Chuluo Khan and Princess Yicheng had sent people to Dou Jiande to welcome back Empress Xiao and Yang Zhengdao, among others.
Dingxiang was established as the King of Sui, and then Princess Yicheng took the initiative to bestow the title of Princess Huainan upon a member of the imperial clan, Yang, and marry her to Shibobi.

But if you become sworn brothers,
We can acquire Pingyao City and also get those three thousand Turkic light cavalry to neutrality from Liu Wuzhou's side—a very good result.

As for his desire to exchange horses, cattle, and sheep for persimmon wine, silk cloth, or even slaves, none of that is necessarily a bad thing.

Later that evening, Li Yi hosted a banquet for Shi Bobi at Yong'an Fort.

Zhang He also came to Yong'an Fort from Haozhou. After hearing about his nephew Li Yi's sworn brotherhood with Shibobi, he found him and pulled him aside.
“You are still too young. How could you secretly become sworn brothers with the Turkic Nibushe? I know you are thinking of the bigger picture, but you have made a mistake and committed a taboo. You should first report to the court and ask the emperor for instructions, and act according to the emperor’s will.”

"Now we can only quickly submit a memorial to Chang'an, saying it's for the sake of the overall situation. Fine, I'll write it for you, and you can copy it yourself at the end."

Zhang Daoyuan shook his head. Although his nephew had just made another great contribution, he was still a bit too careless in this matter.

After hearing what he said, Li Yi realized that he had indeed been short-sighted.

(End of this chapter)