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

Chapter 419 Don't Let the King of Qin Overstep His Boundaries

In March, when the grass grows and the orioles fly,
Li Yi arrived outside Luoyang early in the morning, for Prince Qin, Li Shimin, would be leading his troops there today.

The latest imperial edict has been issued to Luoyang, and Li Yi's position has been adjusted. He is now the Grand Master of the Left, Acting Minister of Works and Acting Attendant-in-Ordinary, Minister of War, Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince and Left Guard Commander of the Crown Prince, and General of the Banner of Wannian Road.

Henan Circuit Pacification Commissioner, Left Vice Minister of the Shaanxi East Circuit Grand Secretariat, Governor-General of Luozhou, and Prefect.

The title is very long, and the official rank is very high.

After this round of adjustments, he became the highest-ranking official in Henan Province.

Along the official road outside the city, the wheat seedlings are lush and green, and they are in the critical period of jointing. Whether the stems are thick and strong and whether the ears of wheat are full depends entirely on the moisture and temperature at this time.

"As the older generation often says, whether you'll prosper or not, you'll see on the 18th of March."

"Yes, the rain on the 18th of March makes the old farmers happy."

"Rain nourishes the soil, and a bountiful harvest is assured."

While waiting for the King of Qin, the group chatted about wheat.

It looks like it's going to rain today.

"It would be good if it rained; if it doesn't rain on March 18th, the harvest will definitely be reduced."

Surprisingly, Shi Yuwen, the chief administrator of the General Administration, was quite knowledgeable about agricultural seasons, and Sima Zhangliang, being a farmer himself, was even more familiar with them.

"I'm afraid of a drought right now. They say if it's sunny on the 18th of the third month, you can plant crops in the lakebed in April."

Drought can hinder wheat growth, resulting in weak stems and increasing the risk of lodging.

For this reason, the people call the 18th day of the third month the birthday of Houtu Niangniang (Goddess of the Earth), and on this day, they will offer spring sacrifices to the Earth Mother to pray for a good harvest.

During the sacrificial ceremony, a bowl of clear water, three sticks of incense, and a handful of wheat seedlings are offered.

Li Yi owns tens of thousands of acres of land in Henan planted with wheat, which will be ready for harvest soon. If the weather is favorable, he should be able to harvest tens of thousands of bushels of wheat this summer.
Even after deducting the tenants' share, the Li family could still harvest at least five thousand shi of grain.

Yuwen Shiji smiled and said to Li Yi, "Zheng Shanyuan of the Zheng family has already sent five thousand shi of grain and five thousand bolts of silk to Luoyang. The Attendant is truly remarkable. I heard that Madam Zheng visited the Attendant at the Chanchuan Manor. I wonder when the banquet will be held?"

"It's just taking a concubine."

“This is a woman of five noble families,” Yuwen Shiji said. He had two wives, his first wife was Princess Nanyang, the eldest daughter of Emperor Yang of Sui, and his second wife was the Princess of Shouguang of the Tang Dynasty. Although they were both noble ladies of the imperial family, they could not compare to a woman of five noble families.

In common parishes, women from the five surnames were even more popular than women from the royal family.

Zhang Liang marveled at the Zheng family's wealth.
In those times, being able to readily produce 5,000 shi of grain and 5,000 bolts of silk was not unusual, but 5,000 shi of grain was truly remarkable.

“I heard that Cui Shishu is also going to give his daughter to the Chamberlain as a concubine.”

Li Yi was aware of many rumors circulating, including one that when he first entered Yanling, Cui Shishu betrothed his daughter to him, and Li Yi agreed to it.

Li Yi dared to say that the rumor came from Cui Shishu, the old man who was quite cunning, perhaps because he had suffered a great loss at the end of the Sui Dynasty.

Back then, Cui Shishu was the general of the Sui Dynasty. He led troops to fight against Wagang, but was defeated and captured. Zhai Rang knew that he came from the Yanling branch of the Qinghe Cui clan, one of the Five Clans, so he imprisoned him and extorted money from him. Cui Shishu had his family raise funds from various sources, but it was never enough to satisfy Zhai Rang.
He almost killed him, but Li Mi persuaded him to spare Cui Shishu's life. Later, he was released back to Yanling and appointed as the governor.

But this experience is still unforgettable for Cui Shishu.

“Meng Haigong of Caozhou, Xu Yuanlang of Yanzhou, Zang Junxiang of Haizhou, Qi Gongshun of Qingzhou, and Wang Bu of Qizhou—three of the five governors east of the Grand Canal have rebelled, and more than half of the twenty-three prefects have rebelled,” Li Yi said, gazing at the lush wheat seedlings. “What does Chief Secretary Yuwen think we should do about this situation?”

Yuwen Huaji chuckled twice, knowing that Li Yi was unwilling to discuss his private affairs. "The rebellions in Cao and Yan should have been within your expectations, right?"

I believe the Chamberlain had already been stationing troops along the Grand Canal. Their rebellion merely gave him an opportunity to send troops and annihilate them.

It cannot be destroyed or established,

It's a good thing to prick the abscess in advance.

"Does Chief Secretary Yuwen think this rebellion will be quelled quickly?"

"Of course, with the Chamberlain personally in command, I believe that the royal army will be able to reach the sea and mountains within three months."

This time, Henan Circuit established seventy-two military prefectures with nearly seventy thousand soldiers. About ten thousand of them were sent to Chang'an to guard the emperor. Ten thousand more were transferred to Hebei for the campaign, leaving fifty thousand soldiers still in the military prefectures.

Li Yi has a sufficient number of soldiers at his disposal.

Sima Zhangliang bluntly stated, "The spring plowing has just ended, so the soldiers can go on expeditions without missing the farming season. They can also earn merit and plunder, which is exactly what the soldiers want."

The soldiers of the Fubing (府兵) were always highly motivated to fight. They could earn merit, receive honors and official titles, and even plunder in a legitimate way.

For the imperial court, the five general prefectures and twenty-three counties east of the Grand Canal were merely local military leaders under temporary control, and the court had not yet gained actual control over them.

They rebelled. The imperial court can send troops to quell the rebellion, thus completely eliminating these unstable factors. At the same time, they can plunder the wealth of these military leaders, and incidentally, confiscate the property of a number of traitorous generals and soldiers, as well as strike at some of those who had sided with the rebels.
The imperial court could even make a fortune.

War is nothing more than plunder.

Li Yi knew about the rebellion in the east, but he was not flustered at all. In fact, he had been looking forward to it for a long time and felt that they were moving too slowly.

Only three of the five general administrations in Shandong have rebelled so far, which has surprised Li Yi.

If there isn't a full-scale rebellion, then he can use one force to devour another, having Qi Gongshun, Liu Lancheng, Wang Bu, Chunyu Nan, and Jiang Shanhe attack the rebellion while he sends troops to push forward.

Caught between internal and external pressures, how long can those warlords hold out?
Li Shimin has already led a large army and is about to enter Hebei. Dou Jiande is too busy to help Meng Haigong and his men.

The generals from Henan who missed the opportunity to participate in the battles of Hebei or Jingxiang have finally gotten their chance to fight.

These people are not like Li Yi, who declined the opportunity to take command; they are eager for the chance to lead troops into battle.

Military generals are not good at governing local areas, but they are best at fighting. Fighting and making meritorious contributions is also the fastest way to get promoted.

"Your Excellency, we'll follow your lead in how we fight. The soldiers are very excited."

Even Yuwen Shiji bluntly told Li Yi to lead the army on the eastern expedition, saying he wanted to follow.

Li Yi no longer needs to earn military merit, but they do.

Li Yi is now financially independent.

Those soldiers and officers were not satisfied.

"The imperial court has newly established seventy-two prefectures in Henan to maintain troops for a thousand days, and now it is time to use them."

"Yes, those few traitors don't need the court to send any more troops. We can wipe them out by following the Chamberlain."

We'll sort out our own problems!

The subtext is that this is a rebellion within our sphere of influence, and this is our achievement; no one can take it from us.

The group surrounded Li Yi, chattering excitedly. In the end, their discussion boiled down to one sentence: the battles south of the Yellow River are theirs to fight. If the King of Qin leads a large army, they should only fight the battles north of the Yellow River and not cross the border.

These guys.

They were neither qualified nor daring to speak directly to the King of Qin like that, but Li Yi was their leader, and when they met the King of Qin, he had to assume that role.

We need to make it clear to the King of Qin that the soldiers of the Hebei Road campaign should not try to steal the credit from our Henan Road.

Without Li Yi, they wouldn't have been so bold as to claim they could handle it themselves. But with Li Yi, now serving as the Left Vice Minister of the Shaanxi Eastern Circuit, stationed in Luoyang to pacify Henan, they naturally had the confidence to do so.

Moreover, the imperial court has already established seventy-two military prefectures in Henan this year. Although they are newly established and many are new recruits, the generals and officers come from Guanzhong and Hedong.

A raging soldier, and a raging nest.

With Li Shizhong leading the way, the new recruits were not afraid.

In fact, these newly recruited soldiers of the Henan Military Government were even more eager to fight and make merits. As the saying goes, a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger, and these newly recruited soldiers were even more courageous.

"The Hebei Circuit has a large army and many generals, so they will definitely want to bring the rebellion of Meng Haigong Xu Yuanlang and others in Henan into their fold as well."

Your Excellency, you must hold on! We still have seventy-two military prefectures in Henan Province. Even if we exclude those on duty and those sent to conquer Hebei, we still have tens of thousands of men.
"If there's a battle to fight and an opportunity to earn merit, why not give it to one of our own?"

No one thought that Meng Haigong and his group's rebellion could amount to anything. Last year, Wang Shichong took advantage of the Tang Dynasty's war against Hedong to seize Henan and even robbed Deng Xiang. But what good did it do?

Li Yi led a detachment out of Wuguan Pass and swept all the way from Chang'an to the Grand Canal. Even Luoyang could not stop Li Yi.

Could Meng Haigong and his men be even more formidable than Wang Shichong?
Many dark clouds gathered in the sky.
It quickly covered the sky.
The sky is dark and the earth is dark.

A heavy rain fell,
Large raindrops pounded into the dust on the road, splashing up fluffy dust flowers.

"Good rain! This year's wheat harvest will be good."

A fast horse galloped in.

"Reporting to the Attendant-in-Ordinary, the King of Qin is about to arrive."

In the pouring rain, the King of Qin led his troops to Luoyang.

Li Shimin ordered his men to camp outside the city, and he did not enter the city himself.

Once the tents were set up, Li Yi and other officials from Luoyang were entertained in the military tents.

"Wu Yi, I heard that Meng Haigong of Caozhou has rebelled, Han Hong of Huazhou has rebelled, Xu Yuanlang of Yanzhou has rebelled, Zang Junxiang of Haizhou has rebelled, and Zhang Qingte and Fu De of Jizhou, Zheng Qianfu of Qingzhou, and others have all rebelled?"

"Not all of them rebelled. Du Caigan of Huazhou, Jiang Shanhe of Yunzhou, Qi Gongshun of Qingzhou, Liu Lancheng of Zizhou, and Chunyu Nan of Dengzhou did not rebel."

Li Shimin looked relaxed, clearly not taking Meng Haigong's rebellion seriously.

"I heard that the fathers and brothers of Consort Yin and Consort Zhang were killed in Cao and Yan provinces?" Li Shimin said, unable to suppress his smile.

Li Yi smiled and nodded, "Previously, Consorts Yin and Zhang brought me an imperial edict asking me to arrange official positions for their fathers and brothers. They were unwilling to accept any lower-ranking positions, so I arranged for Consort Yin's father to be the Chief Administrator of the Caozhou Prefecture and Consort Zhang's father to be the Chief Administrator of the Yanzhou Prefecture."
Who knew that their good intentions would backfire, plunging them into a rebellion and leading to their tragic deaths?

"How unfortunate!" Li Shimin almost burst out laughing. "You must quickly write a detailed memorial to the Emperor, explaining this matter properly, so that Consorts Zhang and Yin don't misunderstand."

"The sudden rebellion of Meng Haigong and others was somewhat unexpected," Li Shimin said.

Seeing that Li Yi hadn't mentioned the matter they had just discussed, Yuwen Shiji stepped forward and brought it up first, "King Qin need not worry about this small rebellion south of the Yellow River. King Qin only needs to send troops to conquer Hebei as originally planned."

"This small rebellion south of the Yellow River can be quelled by the Grand Councilor commanding the troops in Henan."

Li Shimin glanced at Yuwen Shiji, then looked at Li Yi, "Do you really not need me to send troops to wipe them out as well?"

"Your Highness's target is Dou Jiande. We should hurry and pacify Hebei first, so as not to give the Turks any opportunity to interfere. As for Henan, well, we can handle it ourselves and guarantee that we will not hold the Prince of Qin back."

"Okay." Li Shimin readily agreed.

One was the Grand Chancellor of the Eastern Shaanxi Circuit and the Marshal of the Hebei Circuit, while the other was the Left Vice Minister of the Eastern Shaanxi Circuit and the Pacification Commissioner of the Henan Circuit. They were quite in sync and did not engage in fierce competition as the Henan generals had imagined.

Most of them only thought that Li Yi was really the Crown Prince's man, but they didn't know that Li Yi actually had a very good relationship with the King of Qin.

Li Shimin was very relieved to hand over Henan to Li Yi.

"If I encounter a tough nut to crack, I might have to send someone to ask you to bring troops to help me," Li Shimin said with a smile.

"No problem, Your Majesty, just give the order, and we will come to your aid immediately."

With just a few words, the two had already reached an agreement.

Next, Li Shimin invited Li Yi and the others to have a meal in the military camp. The meal was very simple: flatbread, millet porridge, and a bowl of soup.

The King of Qin did not enter Luoyang, nor did he allow his soldiers to leave the camp.

The next morning, the King of Qin led his army to break camp and set off again, continuing his march towards Hebei.

(End of this chapter)