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

Chapter 381 Li Shimin, Covered in Dust

In early August,
Li Yi led his army to Weishi City, which was originally under the jurisdiction of Bianzhou. Shi Derui, a senior official of the Shi family, a prominent local clan, responded to Li Mi by choosing Weishi as his place of refuge.

At that time, uprisings broke out across Shandong. Zu Junyan rose up in Changping, Li Yiman in Pingling, Qi Gongshun in Qinglai, Chunyu Nan in Wendeng, Xu Shishun in Rencheng, Jiang Hongdu in Donghai, Wang Bo in Qijun, Jiang Shanhe in Yunzhou, Tian Liuan in Zhangqiu, Zhang Qingchi in Jibei, Zang Junxiang in Donghai…
Despite years of chaos in the Central Plains, Shi Derui has maintained a stable hold on Weishi.

Li Yi swept through Shannan and marched into Henan, and Shi Derui decisively surrendered again.

What is the origin of this place name?

In front of the Weizhou General Administration Office, Li Yi asked Shi Derui.

Shi Derui was around forty years old, with a tall and strong build. He had participated in the conquest of Liaodong during the Daye era. He had a beautiful beard and stood beside Li Yi, smiling as he explained: "The ancient prison official was called Weishi. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the state of Jin established this office. During the Spring and Autumn Period, it was a separate prison in the state of Zheng. It was the fiefdom of the prison official Weishi, hence the name Weishi."

Zhang Gongjin, who was standing next to Li Yi, also said: "After King Ping of Zhou moved the capital eastward, the State of Zheng, which followed, displayed its great power and occupied a large area of ​​land, including present-day Xinzheng and the surrounding area. The present-day Weishi was granted the fief of the prison official Weishi, hence the name."

Since the chaos of the Sui Dynasty, administrative divisions have been in disarray. The small county of Weishi, because of the powerful Shi Derui, has had much of the surrounding territory incorporated into Weishi, and Weishi has even been elevated to a prefecture. But to the south, in Yanling, there is another Cui Shishu who has also established Weizhou. In a small area, two prefectures have been set up.

Li Yi entered the governor's mansion.
A group of civil and military officials followed behind him.

"The emperor has issued an edict."
The Yizhou General Administration was established, governing the two prefectures of Yi and Ru. Zhang Yin was appointed as the General Administration of Yizhou, and Zhang Jing, the General of the Household, was appointed as the Prefect of Ruzhou.

The Yezhou General Administration was established, governing Yezhou, Luzhou, and Beilizhou, and Wang Chang was appointed as the general administrator.

The Xuzhou General Administration was established, governing Xuzhou and Weizhou, with Cui Shishu as the General Administrator of Xuzhou.

The General Administration of Weizhou was established, governing the three prefectures of Wei, Xia, and Qi, with Shi Derui as the General Administration.

The Chenzhou General Administration was established, governing Chen and Ying prefectures, with Zhang Gongjin as the general administrator.

The Yuzhou General Administration Office was established, governing the three prefectures of Yu, Yu, and Xi, with Tian Zan as its general administrator.

The series of appointments left many people present, especially the newly appointed locals from Henan, somewhat unaccustomed to the situation.

Originally, most of them held the position of governor, but now they have been promoted to governor. Among them, Wang Chang was just a clerk in the Ministry of Personnel in Luoyang a hundred days ago, and he has only been the magistrate of Ye County for a hundred days. Now he has become the governor of Ye Prefecture.

Wang Chang was somewhat bewildered.

He wouldn't have dared to dream of becoming a prefect, but he ended up becoming the chief administrator.

Moreover, Ye County was originally under the jurisdiction of the Yizhou General Administration, but after Zhang Shanxiang was attacked and killed, the Yizhou General Administration was abolished. Now, the original three prefectures of the Yizhou General Administration have actually been divided into two general administrations, and two new prefectures have been added.

Some were unhappy.

Shi Derui was not happy. He was originally appointed as the governor of Weishi by Li Mi, and later remained the governor after surrendering to Wang Shichong. However, after Li Gongyi, the general manager of Qizhou, was defeated by Wang Xingbian, he once served as the inspector of the general manager.

This is precisely why he had previously surrendered to Li Yi in the name of the governor of seven prefectures.

He has now been appointed as the governor-general, but he only governs three prefectures, which total only six counties.

Despite its small size, the imperial court managed to establish six general administrations and fifteen prefectures.

Li Yi issued official seals to the crowd; these seals had been hastily made in Chang'an and delivered with the imperial edict.

Not only were six new generals appointed in Henan, but in addition to the six prefects who concurrently served as generals, nine other prefects were also granted official seals.

In addition, the seals of the governors of Huangzhou (Zhou Faming), Suizhou (Xu Yi), Guangzhou (Lu Zushang), Xianzhou (Li Yuanchao), Dengzhou (Li Shiji), and Anzhou (Li Daliang), as well as the seals of the various prefects, were also sent.

As for the chief clerks and military officers of the various general offices, the various military officers, the chief clerks and military officers of the various prefectures, and the various military advisors, the emperor granted Li Yi the authority to select and promote them from the existing officials, and Li Yi was also allowed to select for vacant positions.

The six general administrations of Shannan governed twenty-five prefectures, and the six general administrations of Henan governed fifteen prefectures.
Li Yi spent quite a while distributing the seals.
It was practically a wholesale market, including both local strongmen like Shi Derui, Zhou Faming, and Tian Zan, and former officials like Cui Shishu and Zhang Yin.

Of course, there are also quite a few like Wang Ye who are simply charlatans.

He had never even been a county magistrate before, yet he became a chief administrator and governor.

This appointment seems somewhat frivolous; even in small places, twelve governors were appointed over forty prefectures, and some prefectures consisted of only one county.

But Li Yi had long seen through the underlying logic: firstly, these arbitrarily appointed governors, prefects, and magistrates were easy to appoint officials to appease the local military leaders, powerful clans, and wealthy families.
Secondly, it also served to decentralize power. When Shi Derui surrendered with seven prefectures, the court set up three general administrations. In Yizhou, the original three prefectures became two administrations and five prefectures.

Copper seal, purple-red official robe, gold and silver belt.

It looks quite formal and grand.

But Li Yi knew all too well that this was just a makeshift operation.

The fact that so many official seals could be engraved so quickly already shows that the Tang Dynasty was very formal.

Li Yi also received a new position as the deputy commander of the Eastern Expedition, serving as Li Shimin's deputy general. This made it easier for him to control the newly occupied areas in southeastern Henan.

At this time, he was only 150 li away from Bianzhou City and 160 li away from Guanzhou.

Located on the Henan Plain, it is completely isolated from the two cities.

Of the twelve chief stewards, only Li Shiji, the chief steward of Dengzhou, and Li Daliang, the chief steward of Anzhou, went to Yique and Yuzhou respectively. The remaining ten chief stewards are now all in front of Li Yijun.

Each of them also led a force of soldiers. In addition to his own 10,000 troops, Li Yi now had more than 10,000 generals and assistants.

Li Yi's progress was smooth, and all the generals were very compliant, sending troops and grain as instructed.

As August arrived, the weather began to cool down, making marching much easier.

With numerous prefectures and counties in southeastern Henan surrendering, Li Yi is no longer short of provisions. He can replenish supplies wherever he goes, eliminating the need to transport provisions from the south of the mountains. Li Yi has established several military granaries from Xiangyang to Xuzhou.
Grain and fodder collected from surrounding areas such as Xiangyang, Nanyang, Fangcheng, Yexian, Xiangcheng, Xuzhou, and Xuchang were first stored in these military granaries, while Guanzhong troops were also stationed in these places.

With these military granaries storing grain, Li Yi could advance or retreat as needed, and could even supply Li Shimin in Luoyang with provisions at any time.

Li Yi's current military campaigns are somewhat similar to those of bandits, moving very quickly. Before they've even finished their provisions in one place, they're already at the next. However, Li Yi doesn't engage in destruction or plunder. He retains local officials, even promoting them, and doesn't harass or plunder local powerful families. In fact, he even grants them official positions and recruits their sons to join the army.

This is not conscription, but rather an opportunity to enter officialdom.

Because Li Yi didn't stay in any one place for long, the pressure on local food supplies wasn't too great, and overall, his relationship with the locals was quite polite.

"Wang Yaohan, the governor of Bianzhou, was the elder brother of Wang Bodang. Wang Bodang had previously followed Li Mi to Chang'an, but later fled with Li Mi and was executed."
"Persuading Wang Yaohan to surrender will probably be difficult," Huo Yu said. "However, I am familiar with Wei Lu, the governor of Xingzhou. We fought together before and have a fairly good relationship. Perhaps I can try to persuade him to surrender through a letter."

Xingzhou was also separated from Zhengzhou. It is located north of Guanzhou and consists of only one city, Xingyang.

Now Wang Shichong has established the Guanzhou General Administration, which governs six prefectures: Guan, Zheng, Xing, Bian, Mi, and Qin. Zhengzhou governs Sishui and Xingze, Guanzhou governs cities such as Guancheng and Yangwu, Qinzhou governs Xinzheng and Qinshui, and Mizhou governs Mishui and Lingshui.

Although Xingzhou is only one city, it is located next to Sishui Pass to the west, also known as Hulao Pass, making its location very important.

Li Shiji's progress has not been as fast as Li Yi's. He has just joined forces with Shi Wanbao and Wang Junkuo at Yique, south of Luoyang. If he wants to reach Guanzhou as planned, he will have to wait.

The places he's going to attack, such as Yingyang and Dengfeng, are all on the outskirts of Luoyang, so the resistance there will definitely be much stronger than on Li Yi's side.

Li Yi was also considering whether to modify the plan. He would attack Guan Zheng first, so that he could block the Hulao Pass as quickly as possible and cut off the supply of money and grain from east of Hulao Pass to Luoyang.

“With Guo Qing, the governor of Guanzhou, stuck in the middle, it’s probably not easy to fight him,” Li Yi said.

Wang Yaohan, the prefect of Bianzhou, was the elder brother of Wang Bodang. His younger brother had been executed by the Tang Dynasty, making it difficult to persuade him to surrender. However, Guo Qing was even more troublesome. This man was originally Yang Qing, the Prince of Xun of the Sui Dynasty, who served as the prefect of Xingyang and had a remarkable political record. At that time, when Yang Guang was suspicious of the imperial clan, Prince Teng Yang Lun and others were deposed and exiled, but Yang Qing was able to maintain Yang Guang's trust, which showed that he was quite capable.

Li Mi occupied Luokou Granary, and most of the counties in Xingyang responded to Li Mi's call. Yang Qing refused to defend Xingyang City. Li Mi attacked frequently, but could not take it. It was not until Yang Guangjiang was killed that Yang Qing accepted Li Mi's persuasion to surrender.

After surrendering, Yang Qing voluntarily changed his surname to his mother's and became known as Guo Qing, which was quite a quirky move. Once Wang Shichong defeated Li Mi, Guo Qing immediately returned to Luoyang and changed his surname back to Yang Qing. Emperor Yang Tong did not punish him and even appointed him Minister of the Imperial Clan Court.

When Wang Shichong usurped the throne, Yang Qing changed his name to Guo Qing and took the lead in urging him to ascend the throne. Wang Shichong treated him quite well, demoting him to Duke of Xun, marrying his elder brother's daughter to him, appointing him as the governor of Xingzhou, and now promoting him to the position of governor of Guanzhou.

He was in charge of the six prefectures of Guanzheng east of Hulao Pass.

“Your Excellency, I think Guo Qing is a fickle man. He can change his allegiance to the emperor as easily as turning his hand, and abandon his mother as easily as leaving a trace. He will not be loyal to Wang Shichong to the death,” Zhang Gongjin said.

He was very grateful when Li Yi recommended him as the governor of Chenzhou and actively offered advice and suggestions.

"I know Guo Qing is fickle, but judging from his past, he won't easily switch sides before the situation is clear. Now that the battle between the Prince of Qin and Wang Shichong is still undecided, I'm afraid Guo Qing won't waver immediately."
Wei Lu is to our north, which puts us in a difficult position.

Although they encountered almost no significant resistance along the way,

However, the situation in southeastern Henan is different from that in Xingzheng. It is the area that Wang Shichong has focused on developing. It is impossible to conquer it with a simple proclamation. Li Yi has a lot of troops at his disposal, but he does not want to launch a rash attack.

"Let's contact Wei Lu first and decide based on the situation. If there's no opportunity, then we'll proceed with the original plan to take Bianzhou and Huazhou, and then turn back to attack Guan Zheng."

Li Yi hoped that Li Shimin would send good news from Luoyang soon, which would make things easier for him.

West of Luoyang, outside Cijian Fort.

Fortunately, Yuchi Gong appeared and seized Shan Xiongxin's spear, defeating him. Qiu Xiaogong, with more than a dozen arrows stuck in his body, still cleared the way for Li Shimin's Qin horse, and his spear killed countless Zheng soldiers.

Li Shimin immediately opened fire with both hands, shooting out all the arrows.

at last,

They broke through the encirclement.

The group rushed to the front of Tang's camp.
The garrison soldier fired an arrow at them.

With a whoosh, the arrow landed in front of Li Shimin's horse.

"Who goes there? How dare you trespass into our camp!"

Li Shimin pointed to himself, "I am Li Shimin."

The soldiers guarding the camp looked at the man covered in blood and dirt, who looked somewhat like the King of Qin, but they couldn't believe that the King of Qin was in such a sorry state.

He had several arrows stuck in his body, and his warhorse was also riddled with arrows. Even the general leading his horse was covered in arrows. He only had a dozen or so riders with him, and almost all of them were wounded.

"The sun rises in the east!" Qiu Xiaogong shouted the camp's password in a hoarse voice.

Li Shimin's warhorse neighed and its front hooves buckled, its injuries too severe. Qiu Xiaogong's horse also collapsed with a thud, spitting blood.

Qiu Xiaogong helped Li Shimin down in time, glanced at his beloved warhorse, and sighed deeply.

Li Shimin patted him on the shoulder.

The camp finally realized what was happening. Zhang Shigui, who was on duty, arrived and was shocked to see the King of Qin in such a state. He quickly ordered the camp gates to be opened.

Li Shimin did not enter the camp, but said, "Bring me another good horse, and come back with me to meet Yuchi Gong and rescue Duan Zhixuan!"

Exhausted, Qiu Xiaogong embraced Li Shimin, saying, "Your Majesty, you are injured and exhausted. Please return to the camp for treatment. I will lead the elite cavalry to fight back."

"You fought your way through on foot for me, and you're badly injured. You should go back first."

The two were arguing and couldn't reach an agreement.
Zhang Shigui had his soldiers help them into the camp, saying, "Your Majesty, this humble general will go."

He gave a shout and led about a hundred riders out.

Qin Shubao, Cheng Yaojin, and others rushed over upon hearing the commotion. They were incredulous to see the King of Qin in such a state. Li Shimin pulled Qin Qiong aside, saying, "We should have taken Shubao with us today. You would have your spear and I your bow; who could have harmed us? Alas, now that Zhixuan is in danger, Yuchi Gong is probably in grave peril as well."

(End of this chapter)