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

Chapter 373 Commanding the heroes, none dared disobey.

Huangzhou, on the north bank of the Yangtze River.

"Steward, everyone is here." Huang Can, the registrar, called out, waking Zhou Faming from his reverie.

Zhou Faming's gaze swept across the faces of the civil and military officials in the hall. These people were mostly from local powerful families, and many of them were members of his Runan Zhou family.

"As you have probably heard, since the Duke of Jin left Wuguan Pass, he has not lost a single soldier. With just a proclamation, he has successively persuaded the three general administrations of Dengzhou, Xianzhou and Suizhou to surrender."

General Li divided his forces in Neixiang, and Chief Clerk Li Daliang led troops to attack Xiangzhou, capturing fourteen outlying fortresses surrounding Xiangyang, north of Wang Honglie, and taking Fancheng Town, killing Wang Honglie's general Guo Da'an. They then proceeded to capture Nanzhang in Juzhou and Shuaidao in Huazhou, south of Xiangyang.

At this point, Zhou Faming couldn't help but feel a sense of unreality.

Li Daliang led only a small force, yet he actually besieged Xiangyang City. Wang Honglie was forced to retreat into the city and dared not come out. In succession, two prefectures, three counties, and fourteen fortresses were lost.

Nowadays, the only remaining parts of Xiangyang are Yiqing City to the south and Lexiang County further south.

A solitary city.

Wang Honglie, Su Shichang, and Doulu Bao did not give up. When Li Daliang attacked Fancheng Town in Anyang County, Wang Honglie sent his general Guo Da'an with 3,000 men to rescue them. However, Li Daliang besieged the city and attacked the reinforcements. Guo Xiaoke led his troops to ambush and killed Guo Da'an's entire army, and also beheaded him.

After this battle, Wang Honglie dared not send troops out of the city again, and could only stay inside the city, allowing Li Daliang to capture the outer cities of Xiangzhou one after another.

It's not quite accurate to call it a capture, because there was almost no real resistance. Almost all the time, the Tang army would arrive, form ranks, and persuade the soldiers to surrender. Then, in the empty city, either powerful families would kill officials and open the city gates to surrender, or officials would surrender voluntarily.

But what went even further than what Li Daliang did was what Li Yi did.

He has not fought a single battle yet, but he has successively recovered the three general prefectures of Dengzhou, Xianzhou, and Suizhou, totaling thirteen prefectures.

"Tomorrow, Shaode and Shaoze will each lead 1,000 soldiers and 2,000 auxiliary soldiers, for a total of 5,000 men, to head north to Xiangyang to join forces with General Li."

Li Yi sent someone to deliver the new military orders.

There's no need to meet at Biyang in Xianzhou; go directly to the city of Xiangyang.

Previously, although Zhou Faming had received the imperial summons and obeyed the imperial decree before Li Yi set out, he had been slowly procrastinating, and his army had not yet left his territory.

There was also a clear sense of waiting and seeing.

"General, Xiangyang is known as an impregnable city, surrounded by water on three sides and backed by mountains on the other, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is strategically located in the middle reaches of the Han River, with the turbulent Han River serving as a natural barrier in the north. Furthermore, the city's east, west, and south sides are also breached to allow water to flow into the Han River, forming a natural fortified moat that is nearly sixty zhang wide, nearly one zhang deep, and more than ten li long."
It's too difficult to take Xiangyang. If we send troops now, we'll inevitably be sent to lead the charge. Our six thousand men are hardly enough to fill a gap in our teeth.

Please, Steward, think it over carefully.

Zhou Xiaojie, the prefect of Qizhou, immediately stood up to object. He was a cousin of Zhou Faming, who had led his troops to conquer Qichun.

The Zhou family originated from the Zhou clan of Runan, a prestigious and renowned clan.

Zhou Faming's father was Zhou Jiong, the Grand General of Jiangbei under the Southern Chen dynasty. His elder brother, Fa Shang, was also a famous general of the Southern Chen, but due to his discord with the Prince of Changsha, he was repeatedly framed and defected to the Northern Zhou. During the Sui dynasty, he distinguished himself in campaigns and was promoted from Prefect of Bazhou to Governor-General of Hengzhou (Zhucheng), commanding the military affairs of Qi, Huang, An, and Mian prefectures.
Later, Hengzhou was abolished and replaced by Huangzhou, which was located in Zhucheng. Zhou Fashang was appointed as the governor of Huangzhou. It was also during Zhou Fashang's tenure as governor of Hengzhou that the Zhou family moved to Zhucheng.

Zhou Faming once served as the magistrate of Zhending. When the Sui Dynasty was in turmoil, he returned to Huangzhou. Following the path of his father and brothers, he recruited local militia and befriended powerful figures in his hometown. He seized Huangmei and then sent his sons and nephews to conquer Qichun, Anlu, and Mianyang. He first submitted to Li Mi and then surrendered the four prefectures to the Tang Dynasty.

However, in his early years, Zhou Faming, a minor warlord, faced considerable difficulties due to the pressure from the forces of Zhu Can and Xiao Xian. Anlu and Mianyang were subsequently captured by Xiao Xian's troops.

Although he is still called the governor of four prefectures, the four prefectures are Huang, Qi, Nan, and Ting. In reality, only Qi and Huang remain, as Nan and Ting were separated from Qi and Huang.

His territory, bordered by the Yangtze River to the southwest and the Dabie Mountains to the northeast, was very restricted.

Mianzhou and Anzhou to the west were Xiao Xian's territory, Shuzhou and Shouzhou to the east were Du Fuwei's territory, and Jiangzhou and Raozhou to the south were Lin Shihong's territory.

In recent years, Zhou Faming has only managed to keep going, as he cannot afford to offend any of the surrounding forces.

Now it seems that the Tang Dynasty has returned to Shannan with greater strength than ever before.

"There is no city in this world that cannot be breached. You say Xiangyang is made of iron, so why was Wang Shichong able to easily take Xiangdeng last time?" Zhou Faming asked his nephew.

Zhou Xiaojie certainly knew,
When Wang Shichong sent troops into Shannan last time, the Li Tang dynasty had drawn all its forces to Hedong and was being badly beaten by Liu Wuzhou. They were even about to abandon Hedong, the place where they started, and retreat to Guanzhong.

With ministers calling for the capital to be moved, the people of Xiangdeng in Shannan also felt that the Tang Dynasty might be doomed, and that Shannan would no longer be able to take care of it.

So when faced with the troops sent by Wang Shichong, they did not put up much resistance, but instead chose to surrender.

Lei Silang, the governor of Dengzhou, was even killed by powerful local magnates in Nanyang.
Xiangyang also surrendered without a fight.

In recent years, the powerful families in the Shannan region have only put up a desperate resistance against Zhu Can when they are unable to escape. They have basically not resisted other forces.

Too weak, can't beat them, might as well surrender.

We should not surrender to Zhu Can, for he is utterly untrustworthy and extremely cruel. Surrendering would only mean certain death, and he would be eaten.

“There won’t be any major siege of Xiangyang,” Zhou Faming said frankly.

“Anyang Fancheng Town is located north of Xiangyang City, facing each other across the river. There are two cities on the two banks of the river, but Wang Honglie couldn’t even defend Fancheng Town, and didn’t even dare to send troops to help. Do you think Xiangyang can be defended?”

An army that has lost its fighting spirit, and is also a newcomer from elsewhere...
At this point, Zhou Faming knew very well what Xiangyang would be like next: the powerful local figures would surrender and betray Wang Honglie and the Zheng army.

This is inevitable.

He had to make his stance clear at this point, otherwise Li Yi might kick him into the court and seize Huangzhou. The world was not yet unified, and he felt that having territory and troops in hand was a safer and more secure position.

"No, I will personally go to Xiangyang to pay my respects to General Li. Shaode and Shaoze, you will follow closely with five thousand soldiers."

Transport more grain and fodder.

"Steward, the situation is still unclear. It would be better if you stayed."

"Damn it, even Du Fuwei has sent troops, how can I not go?" Zhou Faming was a little irritated. Things were completely out of control, and this feeling was not good. Guangzhou, Dingcheng, Huanghe Wharf.

Lu Zushang, the governor of Guangzhou, opened the silk scroll in his hand again. It seemed that everything had changed overnight, and the changes were so rapid that he could hardly keep up.

Deng Xianhuang's three prefectures and twelve counties all surrendered without a word.

What alarmed him even more was that Li Daliang, with a detachment of troops, had already thoroughly defeated the Prince of Wei in Xiangyang and the Prince of Xiangzhou, Wang Honglie, seizing two prefectures and capturing fourteen cities.

Now Li Yi has sent a message, ordering him to send troops to meet up at the city of Xiangyang, and also ordering him to transport a batch of grain.

"Steward, five thousand shi of grain have been prepared and loaded onto the ships. We are ready to depart at any time."

"Two thousand combat soldiers and three thousand auxiliary soldiers have also been assembled."

Lu Zushang looked at the boats on the river. They could go downstream from the Huanghe River and directly into the Huaihe River. Now that the river was full, the wooden boats could go all the way to Yiyang in Shenzhou. After passing through the three passes of Yiyang, they could enter Suizhou and then head to Xiangyang.

"Adjust the troop strength: three thousand combat soldiers and two thousand auxiliary soldiers, with at least half of them in armor."

The soldier exclaimed in surprise, "Five thousand armored soldiers, that's quite a lot."

"Since we're going to Xiangyang, we have to make a good impression. We can't let others look down on us, especially not Chief Steward Li. Also, I'll personally lead the troops there."

Lu Zushang is only twenty-two years old this year. He started his own rebellion at the age of nineteen and declared himself governor. He claims to be from the Lu family of Fanyang, but his family had long been settled in Guang Prefecture. The local powerful and wealthy families were very popular because they generously distributed their wealth. Lu Zushang was a skilled warrior and had learned military tactics from his father since childhood. He was strict in disciplining his troops and had once deterred bandits from entering the area.

But in the past three years, they have only managed to protect their hometown.

Faced with the Tang army's powerful return, Lu Zushang, just as he had decisively abandoned Luoyang for Chang'an years before, decided to personally lead troops to Xiangyang to demonstrate his loyalty.

"I am very curious about that eighteen-year-old chief steward. I want to see what kind of hero he is that is so amazing."

Last year, the Hedong Nengjiang Army repeatedly defeated Liu Wuzhou and even the Turks.

This year, during his visit to Shannan, he seized fourteen prefectures in one fell swoop.

He was only eighteen years old at the time. He had raised an army and proclaimed himself governor when he was nineteen, and he already felt that he was young enough.

Shouzhou, Shouchun.

On Mount Bagong, Du Fuwei's generals Chen Zhengtong and Xu Shaozong were enjoying the scenery.

From this vantage point, one can overlook the Huai River.

Their fleet anchored on the Fei River, a tributary of the Huai River, consisting of twenty large warships, fifty large warships, and a hundred transport ships.

Two thousand soldiers were stationed in Shouchun City.

"It's time to set off," Chen Zhengtong sighed.

Xu Shaozong was puzzled. "The King of Wu has now occupied the entire Huainan region, Li Zitong has abandoned Jiangdu and retreated to Jingkou, and the Assistant Commander has already occupied Danyang. Now Li Zitong and Shen Faxing are no match for him. At this time, why does the King of Wu still have to submit to Chang'an?"

Chen Zhengtong said, "In Huainan, Guang Prefecture is still in Lu Zushang's hands. Not to mention our Jianghuai region, where Shen Faxing, Li Zitong, Chen Leng, and Lin Shihong are all fighting against us. We have only just managed to make some progress."
Compared to the Tang dynasty in Guanzhong, the Zheng dynasty in the Central Plains, the Xia dynasty in Hebei, and even the Liang dynasty in Jiangling, we are still relatively weak, with less land, fewer people, and fewer soldiers. Unless we can control the entire Wu-Yue region and also occupy Huainan, we will not be qualified to contend for the world. Currently, there are still Lu Zushang and Wang Shichong in Huaixi.

Even Xuanzhou and Xizhou are still in Wang Hua's hands.

We are on the south bank of the Yangtze River, and we have only managed to capture Danyang.

"If the world remains in chaos for another ten years, perhaps the King of Wu will have a chance to conquer the Central Plains."

Now that the Tang army is so powerful, they have to set off and can no longer stand by and watch.

“If we send troops to help the Tang army now, then we'll have even less of a chance,” Xu Shaozong sighed.

Chen Zhengtong shook his head, "But you don't want the Tang army to take Xiangyang and then turn around and march into Huainan, right? This is where we started. If the Tang army marches east into Huainan, then what are we going to talk about crossing the river to contend for Wu and Yue?"

The two were silent for a long time.

"Order that we prepare food at the fourth watch tomorrow night and depart for Xiangyang at dawn!"

Xiangyang City.

King Wei and Minister of the Xiangzhou Circuit, Wang Honglie, stood on the city wall. The moat of Xiangyang City was like a great river, and there was even a special naval fleet patrolling the moat.

But the wide moat and the Han River to the north offered him no sense of security whatsoever.

"Your Majesty, Tang general Li Daliang has captured Yiqing and Lexiang, and also taken Ruozhou from Xiao Xian."

Wang Honglie was somewhat surprised. "Minister Su, the Tang army has become so arrogant and presumptuous that they dare to attack both us and Xiao Xian simultaneously?"

Su Shichang said with some helplessness, "It is said that the governor of Ruozhou took the initiative to surrender and submit."

Ruozhou, located southeast of Xiangyang, was originally Ruo County.

Xiao Xian occupied Ruo County and established Ruo Prefecture. Xiang Prefecture had no choice but to move Ruo County, which originally belonged to him, north and establish Lexiang County. Now, both Lexiang and Ruo County have fallen into the hands of the Tang army.

Xiangyang has become an isolated city.

"Doulu Right Minister, what do you think we should do now? Will the messenger sent to Luoyang bring back reinforcements?"

Su Shichang, the Left Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, and Doulu Bao, the Right Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, both remained silent.

(End of this chapter)