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

Chapter 344: Assassin the King and Killing the King

"Report,"

"Turkic cavalry, about three thousand Turkic cavalry have appeared north of the city and have reached twenty miles outside the city."

Li Yi had just fallen asleep when he was woken up shortly afterward, his eyes red with anger.

"Grand Steward," Chen Lingjiao said, fetching him the armor, her expression somewhat nervous.

"What's the panic? Three thousand light cavalry have scared you like this? We have ten thousand infantry and cavalry, plus the fortified city of Taiyuan. What's there to be afraid of?"

Li Yi didn't even put on his armor; he simply draped a fur robe over his shoulders and walked outside.

The Turks' appearance so quickly was unexpected for Li Yi; hadn't they already looted and left laden with spoils?

Three thousand cavalry?
That shouldn't be Lunteqin at Shiling Pass. Could it be Yusheshe, who retreated to Mayi but came back halfway?
An alarm blared throughout the city.

The defenses at each city gate were strengthened.

Li Cunxiao's four generals each led a troop of light cavalry out of the city to scout.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Without taking a break, everyone donned their armor and prepared for battle.

Fortunately, it was a false alarm.

The Turks who came were his brother, Nibushe.
This person, who had previously retreated north from Pingyao, also participated in the Taiyuan robbery.

Half a day later, Nibushe led three thousand cavalry to the walls of Taiyuan.

"My brother, I heard you came to Taiyuan, so I came to see you right away," Nibu said with a smile as he stood below the city wall.

Li Yi looked at the three thousand cavalry behind him, his face expressionless.

"Nibushe has led his troops here; are they here to seize Taiyuan City again?"

"No, no, no, Brother Wuyi, you are my sworn brother. I'm just here to help you out."

"Oh?"

"I'm really here to help you, won't you invite me into the city?"

"Alright, open the city gates."

Li Yi actually ordered the city gates to be opened.
Nibushe watched as the city gates slowly opened and the drawbridge was lowered. He ordered his three thousand cavalry to retreat several miles and set up camp, while he himself only took ten riders into the city.

On the city wall, Li Zhongwen watched the slowly retreating Turkic army and asked, "Isn't the Grand Commander afraid that Nibushe will actually charge into the city?"

"What's there to be afraid of? I only opened the barbican gate, not the inner city gate. If he really brings three thousand cavalry in, I can just lower the barbican gate and trap him like a turtle in a jar."

"Haha, that's true."

Mud steps were set up to enter the city.
After meeting, I gave Li Yi a big hug.

"Brother, I rushed over as soon as I knew you were in Taiyuan. You must be planning to attack Yuci City, right? I'm here to help."

"Oh?"

“We are sworn brothers, so naturally we have to help each other.” Nibu She said this generously, but after a few words, he revealed his true purpose.

He actually coveted the wealth of Yuci City. Many powerful and wealthy families in Taiyuan City had retreated to Yuci City with Yang Funian.
Not satisfied with capturing Taiyuan, he also wanted to capture Yuci, but he only had three thousand cavalry and was not capable of attacking the city by force.

These days he has been looting around Taiyuan, and when he heard that Li Yi was heading north, he immediately moved closer to him.

"Let's take Yuci City together, brothers. I'll help you break through the city, and afterwards, the city and land will belong to the Tang Dynasty, while the money, silk, and people will be mine. How about it?"

Li Yi chuckled coldly.
Nibu She is quite straightforward.

"The people of Yuci City, and the people who came from Taiyuan, are all subjects of my Great Tang Dynasty, Han people. How can I hand them over to Nibushe?"

"Liu Wuzhou has gained the support of Chuluo Khan and has led his troops to capture Luzhou. Yuci is crucial for you. Don't you want to take it as soon as possible?" Nibu asked.

"I can easily take over Yuci City; I won't need Nibushe's help."

"In this way, after we capture Yuci, I only want half of the money, silk, and women."

"No need for tedious steps or painstaking efforts."

Nibushe's expression turned somewhat unpleasant. "I came here specifically to help,"

“Nibushe, you should return to your tent in the eastern Turkic region. It’s freezing cold here, and the tribal warriors are working very hard. Wouldn’t it be better to go home and reunite with your wife and children, brewing tea together in the tent and spending the winter together?”

Nibushe didn't want to make a wasted trip.

Li Yi remained firm in his stance.

“You must be tired from your journey, Nibushe. Have some tea.”

After Nibushe went to change his clothes, Li Zhongwen pulled Li Yi aside and said, "Since Nibushe has taken the initiative to send troops to help, why not agree and give him some benefits? It would be worth it."

Li Yi held his teacup, his eyes stinging, feeling very sleepy.

"These people have huge appetites. Do you really think you can satisfy them? Also, do you really think they'll put in the effort to attack the city?"

"Even if they appear outside Yuci City, it will still deter the Wu Zhou army, right?"

"It can be a deterrent, but I don't want to spend that money. I certainly won't give away my people to them as a bargaining chip."

"Then give me some money and silk."

“Actually, it’s unnecessary,” Li Yi said, taking a sip of tea cake with ghee. “Yuci City doesn’t have many garrison troops, let alone any elite soldiers. Even if we besiege Yuci, we can still cut off Liu Wuzhou’s food supply. In fact, whether we besiege Yuci or not, Taiyuan has already been looted clean by the Turks.”
Yang Funian also had no more provisions to supply Liu Wuzhou, who was marching south.

Li Zhongwen still wanted to use these three thousand Turkic soldiers as a banner, but Li Yi didn't want to waste money on them.

The current situation,
Actually, it's even better than before Li Yi came.

Who could have imagined that after Liu Wuzhou swiftly marched south to Luzhou, his rear would be seized by the Turks he had invited?

Those guys are completely untrustworthy; they just robbed us and ran.

Li Yi gained an empty city of Taiyuan for free. Although it was an empty city, it played a very important role after the Tang army recaptured Taiyuan.

Liu Wuzhou was destined to fail and perish.

The Turks did not launch a large-scale southward invasion as he had originally anticipated; they simply looted and fled.

As long as the Turkic army doesn't march south, Liu Wuzhou can still put up a fight for a while.

The fact that Shibobi now wants to join Li Yi in seizing Yuci shows the chaos within the Turkic Khaganate. Chuluo Khan has been on the throne for more than half a year, but he still lacks prestige and is unable to make unified decisions.

Li Yi entertained Nibu She in the city.

However, Li Yi never agreed to Nibushe's cooperation plan, even when Nibushe later offered to lower the price. He simply smiled and remained silent. Even when Nibushe finally offered to help Li Yi take over Yuci for just 10,000 bolts of silk, Li Yi ignored him.

Li Yi was finally able to get a good night's sleep, sleeping for more than ten hours straight.

He continued to treat Nibushe well in Taiyuan, then sent Li Daozong with a force to Yuci to persuade him to surrender.

It's about persuading them to surrender, not attacking them.

Before Li Daozong set off, Li Yi gave him some instructions: "When you arrive in Yuci, you might as well tell Yang Funian that the Turkic Nibushe has three thousand cavalry stationed outside Taiyuan City. He is my sworn brother and now an ally of our army. He will soon be joining me in attacking Yuci City."
If Yang Funian does not surrender,

On the day Yuci City fell, he and the defending soldiers were all forced to become shepherds in the tribe of the Turkic leader Nibushe.

“If he surrenders, I can ask the saint for their forgiveness.”

Li Daozong did not expect that Li Yi would refuse Nibushe's offer of help on the one hand, and on the other hand, want to use Nibushe's name.

Will Yang Funian surrender?

"Yang Funian has few soldiers left, and he should know that Liu Wuzhou is now at his wit's end, and the Turks are even less reliable."

Of course, more importantly, he couldn't defend Yuci even if he wanted to. The powerful clans of Taiyuan, such as the Guo and Xue families, must be regretting opening the city gates to welcome Liu Wuzhou. They are probably now trying to find a way out.

"All you have to do is shout from outside Yuci city that if they surrender, I, the governor, will pardon them. Someone will always seize the opportunity."

Even if Yang Funian doesn't surrender, powerful figures will still open the gates.

Given the situation,

There will always be people who want to surrender; there will always be someone who wants to surrender first.

Li Daozong led his army south.
Before arriving in Yuci, he followed Li Yi's plan and had some of his cavalrymen change into Turkic armor and flags.

Upon arriving at the city walls,

They had many silk scrolls written to persuade the city to surrender, and then shot arrows into the city of Yuci.

As Li Yi expected,
When Li Daozong led the Tang army, along with a Turkic army, to arrive, panic broke out in the city.

Before Li Daozong arrived, Yang Funian had already received reports from scouts that the Tang army had led its troops north again and had even entered Taiyuan City.

I also heard that Nibushe led three thousand elite Turkic cavalry south to Taiyuan, and Nibushe also led more than ten riders into the city of Taiyuan.

Yang Funian was merely a bodyguard of Liu Wuzhou.
They started an uprising together after beheading Prefect Wang Rengong. As a confidant of Liu Wuzhou, he rose to the rank of Right Minister.

But in the end, he was just a commoner.

When Yusheshe, Lunteqin, and Nibushe led their troops to plunder Taiyuan, he knew that Liu Han was doomed.

Yang Funian climbed the city wall of Yuci.
This was the first city they captured from the Tang army when they marched south last year. How spirited they were then! Now they are surrounded by enemies.

"Right Minister, something terrible has happened."

"what's up?"

"Zhang Da was assassinated."

Zhang Da was formerly a general under Qi King Yuanji. He offended Yuanji and was forced by him to lead only one hundred infantrymen to fight against Wu Zhou's army. After his entire army was wiped out and he was captured, he surrendered in anger and led his army to attack Yuci. Afterwards, he was appointed governor of Yuzhou by Liu Wuzhou.

Now, Zhang Da was assassinated, even after the Tang army had besieged the city.

"Who killed him?"

"I don't know, but it could be the Guo family of Taiyuan."

"These damned bastards want Zhang Da's head as a pledge of allegiance; they're going to surrender." Yang Funian immediately understood.

"Right Minister, shall I lead my brothers to slaughter the Guo family?"

"That's all,"

Yang Funian was illiterate, but he had his men read the surrender document that the Tang army had shot into the city to him. Tang Grand General Li Yi promised that as long as the soldiers and civilians of Yuci surrendered, they would be forgiven for their past transgressions, and those who opened the city gates to surrender would be rewarded with merit.

"Open the gates and surrender!"

Since no one wants to defend, then surrender.

Yang Funian readily surrendered, not giving the Guo and Xue families a chance to deal with him.

He removed his armor, revealing his bare torso, and, holding the seal of the Right Minister, led a group of officials and generals from Yuci City, along with local strongmen, out of the city to surrender.

Prince Li Daozong of Rencheng accepted the surrender, sent troops into the city to take over the defense, and reported the victory in Taiyuan.

Along with the news of Yuci's surrender, an astonishing secret also arrived.

"Has Dugu Huai'en secretly surrendered to Liu Wuzhou?"

Upon seeing this news, Li Yi was very surprised. This Dugu Huaien was the son of Li Yuan's maternal uncle, and also the Minister of Works in the court, with the title of Duke of Wei.

There's no reason for them to rebel against the Tang Dynasty and join Liu Wuzhou. Isn't that the same as joining Chiang Kai-shek in 1949?
"This matter was personally confessed by Yang Funian. Previously, Dugu Huaien had attacked Puban several times without success and was repeatedly reprimanded by the emperor, so he harbored resentment. He then conspired with his confidants to rebel, planning to join forces with Wang Xingben's troops and Wu Zhou, rob Yongfeng Granary with mountain bandits to cut off the Baibi grain route, and cede Hedong land to Wu Zhou."

But later, Lü Chongmao rebelled, and Dugu Huaien was sent to Xia County to quell the rebellion of Prince Yong'an…”

According to Yang Funian's confession, Dugu Huaien did not want to join Liu Wuzhou, but rather wanted to cooperate with Liu Wuzhou. He plotted a rebellion to seize Guanzhong and cede Hedong to Liu Wuzhou.

The Tang army suffered a major defeat in Xia County, and Dugu Huaien also played a part in this.

When Dugu Huaien followed Yuchi Gong to see Song Jingang, they were ambushed by Qin Shubao and others at Meiliangchuan, and Dugu Huaien was rescued.

It's just such a coincidence.

This is precisely why, although all the generals and commanders of Xia County were wiped out, only Dugu Huaien was rescued in Meiliangchuan. He was on his way to see Song Jingang, but was rescued halfway back.

"Previously, Yuchi Gong led his elite cavalry to Puban secretly because Dugu Huaien was in the army outside Puban. He secretly agreed to be an inside agent to help Yuchi Gong defeat the Tang army. However, Yuchi Gong was ambushed by the Prince of Qin halfway and failed to reach Puban."

Dugu Huaien has managed to keep his identity hidden all this time.

However, Song Jingang had been secretly plotting with him to seize Puban. Even now, with Emperor Li Yuan in Puban, Dugu Huaien and Song Jingang were planning a coordinated attack from within and without to capture and kill the Tang emperor.

Li Yi was terrified by their conspiracy.

This is a case of the unsuspecting being outmaneuvered, and there is indeed a chance of it succeeding. If Puban is captured and Li Yuan is killed, the situation in Hedong will be thrown into chaos once again.

Li Yi immediately dispatched someone to Puban with urgent news, traveling 800 li to secretly report the matter to the emperor.

"Send Yang Funian over there as well."

He silently prayed that Dugu Huaien and Song Jingang hadn't yet completed their conspiracy.

(End of this chapter)