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

Chapter 336 Defeat in the South, Victory in the North
Most of the disaster victims who were lured out of Ling Shi City were genuine.

The women and infants included were specially selected by Li Yi from among the disaster victims, and then Luo Wu and some of his personal guards were placed among them.

The most ingenious scams are those that are nine parts truth and one part falsehood.

After entering the city,
Li Yi then sent men to bring these heroes who had captured the city into the city, "and each of them should have a bowl of mutton soup first to warm themselves up."

The land east of the river was originally a rich and fertile region, especially the basins and plains along the banks of the Fen River. However, with the two armies now at war, the people have naturally suffered as innocent bystanders.

The Wu Zhou garrison in Lingshi City was not large. When Liu Wu Zhou attacked Haozhou, he also gathered troops, leaving only two thousand men in Lingshi. When the Haozhou army collapsed, some of the defeated soldiers entered the city, but in total, there were only about three thousand men.

"What to do with these people?"

When the Tang army entered the city and captured the north gate of Lingshi, this small city with a circumference of three miles could not be defended. They didn't even have time to escape and most of them eventually surrendered.

Guo Jiechou, the former magistrate of Lingshi County who had followed Li Yi in the recapture, gritted his teeth and was very pleased with the Wu Zhou army. He had been in office for two years, focusing on the reconstruction of Lingshi City, and had governed it quite well until the Wu Zhou army occupied it.

They either forcibly conscripted men or relentlessly requisitioned grain.
Most of the city's residents went bankrupt, and many were forced to leave the city to escape famine and survive. The once beautiful Ling Shi City was reduced to utter desolation.

Even that spirit stone was almost melted down by the Wu Zhou army to forge weapons.

"It would be better to hand these people over to Nibushe and exchange them for Turkic warhorses. Two prisoners of war for one warhorse is a good deal. These three thousand people can be exchanged for more than a thousand warhorses. This will save food and eliminate future troubles."

Li Yi glared at Guo Jiechou.

"Although many of these Wu Zhou soldiers are from the northern border regions, most of them are Han Chinese. Although they are currently fighting, they are fighting for their own masters, and ultimately it is our civil war."

The Turks are not of our kind. How can we, the Han Chinese, sell ourselves to the Turks as slaves, to herd sheep and horses for them, or even to mine and forge metal?

Zhang Daoyuan agreed with his nephew Li Yi's viewpoint, saying, "I greatly admire what the Duke of Rong said. Even if brothers quarrel within the walls, they should unite against external threats. It is still important to distinguish right from wrong."

Guo Jiechou really wanted to say, "Didn't you also hand over more than 10,000 prisoners of war from the Wu Zhou army and the mountain barbarians under Liu Liu'er's command to the local strongmen in Haozhou to be sold to places like Chang'an in Guanzhong?"

Plans never keep up with changes.

Li Yi originally planned to besiege Lingshi City, forcing Liu Wuzhou to come to its aid. He then planned to besiege the city, intercept reinforcements, and wear down the enemy in open battle.

Unexpectedly, this unintentional act actually yielded positive results.

A simple fishing trip,
They captured Spirit Stone City so easily.

"The plan to besiege the city and attack the reinforcements needs to be changed. We can't use Lingshi City to lure out Liu Wuzhou in Jiexiu City, so we can only use Liu Wuzhou in Jiexiu City to lure out Liu Wuzhou's troops in Taiyuan, Mayi and other places."

Looking at the map,

All the generals were very excited.
This unexpected acquisition of the spirit stone means that the Wu Zhou army has now been cut in two, with Liu Wu Zhou and Song Jingang's northern and southern forces severed.

Previously, Li Yi controlled the three passes of Sparrow and Rat Valley, and Liu Wuzhou was able to transport grain to Song Jingang through Hanhou Ridge between Lingshi and Huoyi. But now Lingshi has also been taken over by Li Yi.

The road south was completely cut off.

The night was cold.

While they were discussing matters, the mutton soup was ready, and they also cooked noodles.

A sip of warm mutton soup warms both the stomach and the heart.

Drinking mutton soup and eating noodles, even Li Yi's uncle Zhang Daoyuan was very optimistic, feeling that the Battle of Hedong was almost over.

No matter how fierce Song Jingang is, he is now trapped and cut off from supplies and reinforcements. What can his 20,000 to 30,000 men do to fight against the Prince of Qin in Jiangzhou?
Liu Wuzhou is also at his wit's end; his more than 10,000 men are trapped in Jiexiu City, and it's possible that none of them will be able to escape.

The Turkic leader Nibushe became sworn brothers with Li Yi and maintained neutrality. Liu Wuzhou's Daibei group, which had previously been launching a fierce and unstoppable offensive, was on the verge of being wiped out.

Li Yi wasn't so optimistic; it was only the second year of the Wude era, still a long way off.

He believed that Jiexiu City couldn't hold Liu Wuzhou captive for the time being, and if Liu truly wanted to flee north, Li Yi might not be able to stop him. Furthermore, the future Tuli Khan, Shibobi, had allied with him now, which actually went against the decisions of Chuluo Khan and the Khatun.

Will Chuluo Khan send a large army to rescue Liu Wuzhou?

Hard to say.

Regardless of all that, his victory over Liu Wuzhou in Haozhou and subsequent acquisition of the spirit stones was still a brilliant move.

This will definitely be of great help to the battle situation in the south.

“I plan to transfer Li Jizhen to the southern battlefield to serve under the King of Qin. I’m not entirely comfortable leaving him in the north,” Li Yi said, holding a bowl of soup.

"How about we just have Li Jizhen attack Jiexiu City?" Chen Junbin suggested.

“This guy is very slippery. If I send him to fight Jiexiu, I’m afraid he might turn against us again. I’ll have to keep a close watch on him. I plan to have him lead 12,000 men south, and leave the rest with me. It’ll be easier to manage them separately.”

Regardless, Li Jizhen is still the Governor-General of Shizhou and the Prince of Pengcheng. Although he, like Liu Dewei, the Governor-General of Xizhou, belongs to the same military command of Bingzhou,

But his identity is still rather special.

The presence of 20,000 people here is a huge time bomb; we don't know when it will explode, and if it does, it will be very dangerous.

By splitting it into two parts, Li Shimin, who was currently short of troops, could not only increase his manpower but also reduce some potential threats and make it easier for him to control the situation.

Li Yi pointed to the map and said, "Let Li Jizhen lead 12,000 men south from Lingshi City through Hanhou Ridge, directly attack Song Jingang's rear end, and then attack Luzhou and Jinzhou."

Li Jizhen's mountain barbarian tribesmen were of average fighting ability, but they were particularly good at switching sides repeatedly. Sending them south to sweep away Song Jingang's troops left behind was just right.

Zhang Daoyuan suggested, "I recommend that we do not let Li Jizhen lead the Shanhu south alone. These people are capable of anything. We should arrange another force to go south together."

I think it would be better to invite Zhang Lun, the Duke of Xihe, to go south with us. We can also send him several thousand troops to accompany him. This way, we can also keep Li Jizhen in check.”

After some discussion, it was finally decided that Li Jizhen would lead 10,000 Lishi Hubuluoji troops, and Zhang Lun, the Duke of Xihe, would lead 4,000 Haozhou and Xizhou soldiers, with an additional 6,000 auxiliary troops, to form a 20,000-strong southward marching force to reinforce Li Shimin.

Li Jizhen had 10,000 troops left, which were led by his eldest son Liu Boyuan and kept behind to await orders.

Li Yi personally oversaw the defense of Lingshi, while Liu Zhan was in charge of guarding Haozhou.

The next focus should naturally be on cutting off Liu Wuzhou's connection with Song Jingang and severing Song Jingang's supply lines.

Li Zhongwen moved his troops to Pingyao City, while Li Yi remained stationed in Lingshi. Together with Yong'an, Zhang Bi, Zhang Nan, and Li Daoxuan's army,

This formed a double encirclement of Liu Wuzhou of Jiexiu.
Using Liu Wuzhou as bait, they devised a plan to besiege the city and intercept reinforcements, thereby annihilating more of Wuzhou's army.

The plan is pretty good.
Besieging Jiexiu without attacking is not a priority because attacking the city would be too difficult and result in too many casualties.

After finishing his late-night snack, Li Yi mustered his energy and wrote a report of victory to the Emperor in Chang'an, also reporting that he had sent Li Jizhen and Zhang Lun with 20,000 men south to reinforce the King of Qin.

After writing the letter,
As dawn breaks,

Li Yi yawned and went to sleep.

Jiexiu City.

Liu Wuzhou went out of the city last night to fight, successfully covering the escape of Yuan Junzhang and Yang Funian.

He was confident that Chuluo Khan would send troops to rescue him, not only because of the benefits he had promised, but also because he knew Princess Yicheng, the Khatun. After all, she was a princess sent to marry a Sui dynasty ruler, and her willingness to have Chuluo Khan bring Yang Zhengdao and others to Dingxiang to restore the Sui dynasty showed that she still longed for her homeland.

Chuluo Khan was not merely subservient to Princess Yicheng; he also had frequent dealings with another Chuluo Khan, who was a formidable warrior and possessed keen insight.

From the moment Shi Bi Khan besieged Yanmen Pass, neither of the brothers wanted the Central Plains dynasty to remain unified and powerful. Back when Tuoba Khan was in power, the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou dynasties, vying for his support, offered him beautiful women and gold and silk, leading him to arrogantly and proudly say, "My two sons in the south are always filial, so why should I worry about poverty?"

The Turkic Khans wished that the Central Plains would remain in chaos and conflict, so that they could live comfortably.

Liu Wuzhou didn't mind being a son emperor to the Great Khan of the Turks. A son emperor is still an emperor, but being the son of the Great Khan of the Turks means being someone else's emperor.

He believed that Chuluo Khan would never allow the Li Tang dynasty to defeat him, or even annex Daibei.

He knew that Chuluo Khan and Princess Yicheng not only had dealings with Dou Jiande and Gao Kaidao in Hebei, but also with Wang Shichong in Luoyang.

Early in the morning, Liu Wuzhou ate sesame pancakes with roasted lamb leg and had a good appetite.

He wasn't worried at all about being surrounded by the Tang army.

Surrounded?

Who is surrounding whom?

When Khan Luo leads 100,000 Turkic cavalry south, it will be Li Yi who will be surrounded.

The guards rushed in.

"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Ling Shi City has fallen."

Liu Wuzhou was eating a mouthful of roasted lamb leg, not even bothering to chew it.

After a long silence, he swallowed the lamb leg in one gulp. "What did you say?"

"Last night, Li Yi, disguised as a woman with an infant, went to the outskirts of Lingshi City, pretending to be refugees escaping from a fortified village breached by routed soldiers. He claimed to be lost in the darkness and had mistaken Lingshi City for Zhangbi Fortress..."

After Liu Wuzhou listened,
Silent for a long time,
"Damn it!"

Liu Wu kicked over the food table in front of him, and the roasted lamb leg that he had only taken a few bites of fell to the ground.

night.

Liu Wuzhou left Guo Jing and Xue Shen to guard Jiexiu City, while he led only three hundred cavalrymen out of Jiexiu under cover of darkness and headed north.

He needed to personally pay his respects to Chuluo Khan and Princess Yicheng, as the situation was critical and could not be delayed any longer; otherwise, the Song king and his men might be surrounded and annihilated in the south.

On the road at night, they encountered several Tang cavalry units that were blocking their way. Liu Wuzhou, clad in armor and armed with weapons, led the charge and forced his way through.

When Li Yi woke up, he received a report from Li Daoxuan, saying that he had fought a battle with Liu Wuzhou the night before, and that a small group of cavalry had left under cover of darkness the night before and the night before.

However, he reported that Liu Wuzhou was still in Jiexiu City.
Liu Wuzhou's imperial banner was still on the city wall of Jiexiu, and his more than 10,000 troops were still there.

Li Yi had no doubts. After all, only small groups of cavalry had left both nights. Liu Wuzhou wouldn't be so risky as to abandon more than 10,000 men and escape with only a hundred or so cavalry at night. That would be too dangerous, as the area around Jiexiu was surrounded by Tang troops.

Who would have thought that Liu Wuzhou originally intended to use himself as bait to lure Li Yi into a counter-encirclement by the Turkic army? Who would have thought that upon hearing of the fall of Lingshi, he would react so strongly, fleeing immediately, yet leaving behind the wolf-head banner, the emperor's flag, and an army of ten thousand in Jiexiu.

For several days, no one noticed that Liu Wuzhou had run away.

Li Yi's news of victory traveled south by fast horse, reaching as far as Guanzhong.

Emperor Li Yuan was always hunting in Mount Hua.

In reality, he was personally leading a general reserve force of 10,000 men, ready to support Li Shimin at any time. Or, should Song Jingang and his men break through the Yellow River defense line, he would have to personally lead troops to plug the gap.

Unable to return to the capital, Li Yuan was quite helpless.

"His Majesty."

Qian Jiulong rushed to the imperial palace in a hurry.
"Your Majesty, an urgent report from Hedong!"

Li Yuan, seeing his expression, asked, "Bad news?"

Qian Jiulong nodded, "The Prince of Yong'an led his army to besiege Lü Chongmao in Xia County. Chongmao sought help from Song Jingang. Jingang sent his generals Yuchi Jingde and Xun Xiang with troops to Xia County. The Prince of Yong'an was attacked from both sides and his army suffered a great defeat."

Seeing the emperor's face turn extremely ugly, he paused but continued, "Prince Yong'an Xiaoqi, Minister of Works Dugu Huaien, Governor of Shanzhou Yu Yun, Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Shaanxi Army Liu Shirang, and Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat Tang Jian have all been captured."

"They were all wiped out?" Li Yuan's face was so dark it was almost dripping with water.

"Yes, the entire army was wiped out."

"The combined forces of Xiaoji and Huaien, numbering over 30,000 men, were all wiped out?"

"Yes."

Li Yuan was so angry that his hands trembled and he couldn't speak.

a long time,

The emperor had barely spoken when he said, "With Xiaoji's entire army wiped out, Song Jingang can now march south to Puzhou, join forces with Wang Xingben, and even threaten Yongfeng Granary in Huayin."

"We must force Shimin to retreat to Guanzhong and abandon the area east of the Yellow River."

Originally, the King of Qin led 30,000 men to garrison at Baibi in Jiangzhou, while Li Xiaoji and Dugu Huaien, along with their newly reorganized force of over 30,000 men, were stationed in Yuzhou.

They blocked Song Jingang's southward journey from the left and right, and also cut off their contact with Wang Xingben and Lü Chongmao.

With one of the two armies gone, the original defensive system became useless.

Now, it is pointless for the King of Qin to station himself at Baibi again, intending to fortify his defenses.

The defenses were wide open.

Li Yuan summoned Pei Ji.
After Pei Ji was recalled to the court, Li Yuan first punished him and stripped him of his post, but restored his official rank and title a few days later.

"Pei Jian, I intend to send Erlang back to guard Changchun Palace, retreat to the interior of the pass, and abandon Hedong. What do you think?"

Pei Ji was shocked to learn that Prince Yong'an Li Xiaoji's army had been defeated and that all his generals had been captured. He had retreated eight hundred miles, but at least he had not been captured.

Li Xiaoji, Tang Jian, Yu Yun, Liu Shirang, and others had followed him in the retreat, but this time they were all taken prisoner.

"The King of Qin is alone at Baibi, and the Yellow River defense line is already wide open. I believe we can only temporarily avoid a direct confrontation."

The King of Qin was summoned to retreat to Changchun Palace.

It would be best to immediately send messengers to summon Li Yi of Haozhou and Liu Dewei of Xizhou to lead their troops south.

A defense line along the Yellow River must be built immediately; the Wu Zhou army must not be allowed to cross it.

Li Yuan was deeply worried. "Li Yiyuan is thousands of miles away. Will he make it in time?"

"Is Haozhou really going to give up?"

"Your Majesty, we must consider the immediate situation and absolutely not allow Liu Wuzhou to enter Guanzhong."

Li Yuan sighed deeply.
"Then abandon Hedong and summon Shimin, Li Yi, and Liu Dewei to retreat back to Guanzhong..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Kuan, the palace eunuch, rushed in.
His face was full of joy. "Your Majesty, a great victory! A great victory at Haozhou! Li Yi has sent an urgent report from 800 li away! A great victory at Haozhou! He decisively defeated Liu Wu's 50,000-strong army at Haozhou, beheading over 4,000 and capturing over 10,000."

Liu Wuzhou's army suffered a crushing defeat and retreated hastily to Jiexiu. Only ten thousand soldiers remained in the city, and they were already surrounded by Li Yi!

Like a thunderclap in a clear sky
The emperor exclaimed in surprise, "What? What did you say?"

The mountains and rivers are full of doubts, and there is another village.

Just moments before, Prince Yong'an, Li Xiaoji, and his forces suffered a crushing defeat in Xia County, with over 30,000 men wiped out and a group of generals captured.

Li Yuan had no choice but to decide to abandon Hedong.
As a result, Li Yihao won a great victory in Jiexiu, defeating Liu Wuzhou's 50,000 troops and besieging Liu Wuzhou in Jiexiu.

What exactly is going on?

"Where did Li Yi get such great ability?"

Pei Ji was extremely suspicious that this was fake news.

Lu Kuan quickly took out the newly delivered victory report. "Your Majesty, the victory report was written in the handwriting of the Duke of Rong. Look at that lean, muscular handwriting; it's unique to him. And there's his seal on it..."

"Hahaha, it's Li Yi's lean physique! That's right, this is Li Yi's own handwritten report of victory! Hahaha!" Li Yuan laughed until tears streamed down his face.

(End of this chapter)