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

Chapter 376 Summer Swimming Pool
July in summer.

In Xiangyang, a major town in the south of the mountains, the midday heat was unbearable. Li Yi was soaking in the pool in the backyard of the Xingtai government office.

Beside them, tall trees with canopies shielded them from the scorching sun, and the water was flowing from a canal. Li Yi couldn't help but sigh that although Wang Honglie had only been in Xiangyang for three months, he knew how to enjoy life.

Instead of focusing on strengthening city defenses, training troops, and restoring production in Xiangyang, they were busy expanding and repairing the Xingtai Yamen (government office).

Before the imperial court was even completed, he himself became a prisoner.

Li Yi dove into the water, stayed submerged for a while, then surfaced, flipped over, and floated on his back in the pool. With just a slight movement of his arms and legs, he could keep himself afloat.

"The Duke of Jin is quite fond of swimming. I thought he wouldn't be good at it since he comes from Guanzhong."

Huo Yu entered with a smile and stood by the pool.

Song Yi and Chen Lingjiao, Li Yi's two retainers, had long since stood far away to avoid getting in the way.

Li Yi turned his head, offering a different perspective.

Today, Huo Yu's long hair was not styled into a bun, but simply tied up with a ribbon. Her emerald green, high-waisted ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) was made of gauze and tied very high, making her appear even more majestic. A silk shawl was draped over her arms.

Beneath the sheer dress, several gold armlets were faintly visible on her arms.

Beneath her skirt, a pair of bare feet wore wooden clogs.

We're used to seeing Huo Yu looking dashing and heroic in her silver armor and cloak, so this charming and alluring look is quite rare and very captivating.

"I really envy you men. In this hot weather, you can just take off all your clothes and enjoy playing in the water."

"With such a big pool, you must have had a lot of fun."

Li Yi laughed and said, "Chief Steward Huo can come down and play too."

Huo was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled, "I really want to come down and play, but I'm afraid the Duke of Jin will find it distasteful."

"I'll have someone build a pool for Steward Huo indoors later."

Huo squatted by the pool, splashing water with her hand, finding it very refreshing.

"There's no chance then. The angel from Chang'an has arrived, and we need to set off."

Upon hearing that an angel had arrived, Li Yi quickly went ashore.

Looking at Li Yi, who was only wearing a pair of shorts, Huo said, "I usually see the Duke of Jin as a scholar, with fair and delicate skin. I didn't expect him to have so much muscle on his body. He's just quite slender."

Li Yi's physique was not as robust as that of generals like Cheng Yaojin, especially since he did not have a large belly.

Normally, when he wears armor, he doesn't look so fierce and brave, and he loses some of his imposing presence, but now that he's naked, he looks quite good.

Li Yi quickly went inside to change his clothes.
"Why did the imperial court react so quickly this time?" Li Yi asked as he stepped forward.

Looking at his wet hair, Huo said, "Let me dry it for you. Even though it's hot, your head shouldn't be wet all the time, or you'll get headaches later." She picked up a towel and began to dry Li Yi's hair.

The two were very close.

They inevitably bumped into each other, and that unique feminine fragrance kept wafting into their noses.

The Huo family is truly well-versed.

It tempts people to pick it.

restless mind

Li Yi stared directly at Huo Yu.
She sensed it and looked over.

Their eyes met, and she smiled slightly, showing neither shyness nor avoidance.

"Alright, dry it a bit. Don't tie it up yet, just tie it up like this. It'll dry in a bit in this hot weather," Madam Huo said with a smile. "Let's go, it's time to see the angel and receive the imperial edict."

Li Yi's gaze remained fixed on her.

Mrs. Huo chuckled, "How about I leave the door open for you tonight?"

Li Yi said seriously, "Then I'll really go."

"Come on then, what's there to be afraid of?" he said, turning and walking ahead.

Li Yi laughed and followed.

The government office.

Incense was burned and an altar was set up. Li Yi and his generals received the imperial edict.

Upon hearing that he had been appointed as the Left Vice Minister of the Xiangzhou Circuit and Governor of Xiangzhou, and also concurrently held the title of Grand Councilor, Li Yi did not react much.

His current title is frighteningly long.

He was appointed as the Grand Master of the Left of the Imperial Guard, General of the Army, Pillar of the State, Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince and Left Guard of the Crown Prince, General of the Banner of the Wannian Road, General of the Right Martial Guard, Left Vice Minister of the Yizhou Circuit, Left Vice Minister of the Xiangzhou Circuit, Governor of Xiangzhou, and concurrently Grand Chancellor and Duke of Jin with a fief of one thousand households.

Xianzhou Circuit was abolished, and Xiangzhou Circuit was newly established.
His position as the governor of Dengzhou was changed to Li Shiji.

The Minister of the Xiangzhou Circuit was actually Li Yuanji, and that brat was even promoted to Attendant-in-Ordinary.

Are there now four Grand Councilors in the court?

Attendant-in-Ordinary Chen Shuda, Attendant-in-Ordinary and Inspector-General of Liangzhou Yang Gongren, Attendant-in-Ordinary and Minister of the Xiangzhou Circuit Li Yuanji, and concurrently Inspector-in-Ordinary, Left Vice Minister of the Yizhou Circuit and Left Vice Minister of the Xiangzhou Circuit Li Yi.

Since the person is not in court, it seems that whether he serves in the court or not is of little use.

This decree,

Most importantly, the emperor ordered Li Yi to lead troops out of Fangcheng Pass and head north to attack Yi and Yu.

Prince Qin, Li Shimin, has also officially dispatched troops, which have reached Xin'an Guzhou. Several armies led by Luo Shixin, Wang Junkuo, Huang Junhan, Shi Wanbao, Liu Dewei, and others have also advanced and launched an attack on the outskirts of Luoyang.

Li Yi was appointed as the General Commander of the Yizhou Road Army, and Li Daliang was appointed as the General Commander of the Yuzhou Road Army.

Li Shiji, the former deputy commander in charge of the campaign in Shannan, remained as deputy commander under Li Yi, while Guo Xiaoke was appointed as deputy commander under Li Daliang.

Li Daliang's outstanding performance in the campaign against Shannan earned him the title of Marquis of Wuyang County and the position of Governor-General of Anzhou. Although Li Shiji was also appointed Governor-General of Dengzhou, he did not receive a similar appointment this time, clearly indicating that he did not receive any favor from the emperor.

The emperor's mission for Li Yi and his men was very clear: first, take Yi and Yu; then, force Xu and Zheng to surrender; and finally, join forces with the King of Qin at the gates of Luoyang.

Strive to secure the Central Plains in one battle.

"Congratulations to the Duke of Jin on becoming Prime Minister!"

Huo Yu congratulated Li Yi with his hands clasped, and Li Yi smiled and waved back.

Li Daliang was quite excited to be granted the title of Marquis of Wuyang. This title was special to him because his family was from the Wuyang branch of the Longxi Li clan. His father had been granted the title of Duke of Wuyang, and his grandfather and great-grandfather had both been granted the title of Duke of Wuyang.

This title can be said to be a family heirloom.

Li Shiji was rather disappointed. When he surrendered ten prefectures to the Tang Dynasty, his father was even granted the title of king. After his father declined the title, both father and son were granted the title of duke.

But now, after his defeat, he entered Chang'an alone. He first followed the King of Qin to fight in Hedong, and now he is following Li Yi to conquer Shannan. He is in a position that is dispensable.

He even sensed that Li Yi was subtly suppressing him, after all, when he had requested to lead the way alone, Li Yi had sent Li Daliang, the chief secretary, instead.

He didn't believe Li Yi had any special insight to see Li Daliang's hidden military talent; he must have been deliberately suppressing him. Currently, Li Daliang was still a chief steward, while he was still only Li Yi's deputy chief steward, both having fallen to the same level as Guo Xiaoke.

Disappointment

Deep loss.

Li Yi said to Li Daliang, "My idea is that we should reorganize the troops in Shannan. Marquis Wuyang and I will each set a force of 20,000, including 14,000 combat soldiers and 6,000 auxiliary soldiers."

Of these 20,000 men, 4,000 were soldiers from Guanzhong Prefecture, 3,000 were from Guanzhong, 1,000 were from Shannan Prefecture, 6,000 were soldiers from Shannan Prefecture, and 6,000 were auxiliary soldiers, half from Guanzhong and half from Shannan.

With this arrangement, Li Yi's Guanzhong troops could still leave 6,000 to garrison south of the mountains.

Of these 6,000 Guanzhong troops, 3,000 were stationed in Xiangyang, 2,000 in Nanyang, and 1,000 in Fangcheng.

The twelve thousand soldiers from Shannan, plus two thousand young men from Shannan, were naturally conscripted and drawn from various prefectures in Shannan. Moreover, only elite soldiers, armored soldiers, were selected.

This approach serves two purposes: firstly, it removes the elite forces from the south, preventing them from causing trouble behind the scenes; secondly, it ensures the quality of the troops and prevents them from being of inferior caliber.

Besides the 6,000 soldiers from Guanzhong Prefecture, those who remained were the troops from various prefectures and states. In reality, this reorganization was just a matter of registering the troops under the command of the current governors and prefects, assigning them numbers and organizational structures for easier unified command.

There was no requirement to reduce or abolish anything. Of course, each unit had its own troops to support, and the central government was temporarily unable to do so.

Zhou Fashang, Lu Zushang, Tian Zan, Xu Yi, Lei Changying, Xu Shaozong and other troops were to divide the 12,000 soldiers from the southern mountains and 2,000 young men from Li Yi and Li Daliang's two armies.

The chief steward will have to pay at least a thousand, and the governor will have to pay several hundred.

In addition to sending troops, the generals and governors also need to provide food supplies. The two armies have 40,000 soldiers and auxiliary troops, as well as the troops left behind, all of which will need to be supplied by Shannan.

"Your Excellency, what should we do with the surrendered Zheng soldiers in Xiangyang?" Li Hongjie asked.

After experiencing the fickle nature of Huang Ziying, Liu Liuer, Liu Jizhen, and others in Hedong, Li Yi no longer trusted entire groups of surrendered soldiers and generals.

However, Xiangyang was captured by leveraging the powerful local clans and spies who had infiltrated the city. This impregnable fortress was breached from within.

There was little fighting and few casualties.

Wang Honglie's 8,000 troops mostly surrendered, but only about 3,000 of them were armored soldiers. The rest were unarmored recruits, auxiliary troops, or even some able-bodied men and retainers of powerful clans.

"If any of these surrendered soldiers are willing to stay in the army, they can be selected and dispersed to fill various units."

Those who do not wish to remain in the army, I think we can arrange for them to go to military farms first; we cannot let them leave for the time being. We can tell them that after a year in the military farms, as long as they meet their grain storage targets, they can freely choose whether to stay or leave.”

"Officers below the rank of colonel who surrendered may remain if they wish. But officers of the rank of colonel and above must all be sent to Chang'an to await the Emperor's decision."

In particular, Wang Honglie, Doulu Bao, Su Shichang, and others were specifically designated by His Majesty to be sent to Chang'an.

These surrendered soldiers

Even if you choose to stay and serve in the army, you have to start as an unarmored auxiliary soldier and accumulate merits before you can be promoted to a combat soldier.

Even first-class officers in the corps, brigade, and marshal ranks will be demoted and first appointed as deputy officers.

Having learned his lesson, Li Yi would not easily trust them, nor would he allow them to maintain their organization. He had no choice in Haozhou, but things were different now, and he had to take precautions.

Those who remain must first stay with the garrison troops; they certainly cannot be taken on this offensive against Yi and Yu.

"Minister Li, the rear is now in your hands. The provisions for our two armies, as well as the provisions for the troops left behind, will all be arranged and guaranteed by you. Thank you for your trouble." Li Yi said, holding Li Hongjie's hand. This man had been appointed Minister of Civil Affairs of the Xingtai.

The main officials of the Xingtai were either going on expeditions to Yi and Yu or were still in places like Kuizhou. Among those left behind, Li Hongjie held a high official position and happened to be in charge of civil affairs.

Li Hongjie had a headache; ensuring the supply of provisions for such a large army was no easy task.

"Then I can only ask Chief Stewards Zhou, Chief Steward Xu, Chief Steward Li, Chief Steward Lu, and other chief stewards and governors for help."

Zhou Faming and others felt immense pressure, but they couldn't shirk it.

Think of that young courtier who led 20,000 men out of Wuguan Pass and, in a month and a half, swept across the southern mountains, recovering dozens of prefectures with almost no losses.

Who would dare to sabotage Li Yi's campaign by interfering with his finances and supplies?
I'm afraid he'll end up in the same awkward situation as Tian Zan.

He was originally the governor of Suizhou, but after killing Yang Shilin, he surrendered to Wang Shichong and was appointed governor of Xianzhou. When Li Yi launched his campaign, he killed Wang Shichong's envoy and defected, originally thinking he could return to Suizhou as governor.

As it turned out, Xu Yi, the self-proclaimed governor of Suizhou under the Zheng regime, acted faster, paying a visit and surrendering first. He was retained as governor of Suizhou, while the governorship of Xianzhou was given to Li Yuanchao. Tian Zan eventually became the governor of Yuzhou.

But Yuzhou was Wang Shichong's territory, so he only received a nominal title.

Now, with the troop withdrawals and reorganizations, most of Tian Zan's elite armored soldiers will be transferred away. He will only have two or three thousand men left, and can only hold the position of general in Li Yi's camp. He will lose his territory and most of his soldiers, and from now on, he will have to rely on Li Yi for money and provisions. In reality, he will be nothing.

Faced with the powerful imperial court and Li Yi, the local strongmen in Shannan had no choice but to obey orders. Take Zhou Faming, for example; his original plan was to seize Anzhou and force the surrender of Mianzhou on his way to Xiangyang.

However, the emperor appointed Li Daliang as the governor of Anzhou, and Anmian was not returned to the governor's office of Huangzhou. All his hard work was in vain.

But what can he do?

He would have been extremely grateful if the emperor had granted him the title of Duke of Huang. Like Tian Zan, he repeatedly changed allegiances, and in the end, he only received the title of Duke of Shen, losing even his territory. At least he still had the four prefectures of Huangfu.

"In ten days, I will organize the troops here, and Minister Li will prepare provisions for us."

Ten days later, on July 16th, Duke Wuyang and I will formally set out for Henan.

Li Hongjie reluctantly accepted the task.

Because the campaign in Shannan went so smoothly, no one was worried or nervous about sending troops to Yi and Yu provinces in Henan. Even Zhou Faming, Lu Zushang, and others had not considered the military difficulties.

What worries everyone more is the issue of feeding and caring for such a large army.

Fortunately, although Nanyang and Henan are separated by mountains such as Funiu Mountain and Fangcheng Mountain, there are rivers on both sides that can be used for boat transport. It is only necessary to transfer the supplies by land when crossing mountain passes and ridges, but this has greatly reduced the cost of transportation. It is not necessary to conscript too many laborers to transport grain and fodder, nor will it increase the consumption of extra resources.

The granaries in various prefectures and counties were almost empty. The only solution everyone could think of was to approach the powerful clans first, whether by persuading them to donate or by borrowing, because only they had grain in their hands, and in such large quantities.

After giving the orders, Li Yi stopped worrying about these things.

The reorganization of troops was handled by Li Daliang, Li Shiji, Guo Xiaoke, Li Wenxiang, and others, while the management of finances and provisions was handled by Li Hongjie and the various generals and governors.

"Minister Li, the work of establishing military farms must not be stopped."

After we set off, the troops left behind should not only strengthen defenses and training, but also engage in military settlements.

"Recruiting and resettling displaced people and reclaiming abandoned land are also essential and cannot be neglected." Li Yi looked north. "This war will probably be difficult to end anytime soon, so we must prepare early."

Li Hongjie was surprised by Li Yi's idea.

"The Chamberlain and the Duke of Wuyang each led 20,000 troops northward, while the King of Qin led 60,000 troops under twelve generals to attack from east of Shaanxi. That's a total of 100,000 troops, with at least 70,000 combat soldiers and at least 40,000 armored soldiers. How could Wang Shichong possibly withstand such an attack?"
Moreover, the commanders are the King of Qin and the Duke of Shizhong; wouldn't it be a swift and decisive victory? I estimate that by October, during the golden autumn harvest season, the battle will be won, and then we can enter Luoyang to celebrate our victory.”

Li Yi shook his head. "You're too optimistic. Wang Shizhong was besieged by Li Mi for a long time, yet he still held on. Now, facing the full-scale attack of our Great Tang, although he will ultimately be defeated, a quick victory is difficult; we can only fight for one city at a time."

This war will likely last for at least a year to end.

"A year?" Li Hongjie was shocked. "The Chamberlain took dozens of prefectures in Shannan in just a month and a half."

“That’s different. We started fighting Liu Wuzhou last April and it didn’t end until May of this year. It took us more than a year to finish the fight, and we only recovered Hedong. We still haven’t recovered Daibei.”

Li Hongjie couldn't help but worry. He didn't know if Wang Shichong could withstand a year of fighting, but he estimated that he definitely couldn't. Where would he get so much food and supplies for the army?
"You must work harder and try to capture Luoyang before winter this year, otherwise I really don't know how we will supply the area south of the mountains."

Li Yi patted him on the shoulder, "Let's work hard together."

(End of this chapter)