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

Chapter 433 Killing the Donkey After It Has Gone Its Millstone and Pursuing the Meritorious Officials
The rebellion south of the Yellow River was quelled in just over a month, which should have been a cause for celebration. However, the atmosphere changed because the emperor wanted to kill Sheng Yanshi.

Li Yi was also somewhat sullen.

Sheng Yanshi was a founding hero. When Li Yuan raised his army, he was the county magistrate and organized more than a thousand men to go to Fenyang to welcome him. As a result, he was appointed as the Grand Master of the Palace and the Commander-in-Chief. He followed Li Yuan all the way to Chang'an.

Afterwards, he remained in Yiyang to quell the rebellion, where he killed Li Mi and Wang Bodang, earning him the title of Duke of Ge and the appointment as General of the Left Guard. He also made significant contributions in the Battle of Luoyang, yet the emperor ordered his execution.

They really don't take the founding fathers seriously at all.

The saying "the rabbit mourns the fox's death" aptly describes this situation.

Li Yi temporarily spared Sheng Yanshi's life, but no one knew if the emperor would grant him that favor. Even if he did spare Sheng Yanshi's life, it would still chill the hearts of many.

Midnight,

Li Yi recalled Li Yuan's character, noting his magnanimity and generosity. He was incredibly generous in bestowing titles of kings, dukes, and surnames upon Li Yuan, rewarding him with land, money, gold, and silver. After the pacification of Luoyang, the emperor had bestowed upon Li Yi a hundred catties of gold, which he assumed was worth a hundred catties of gold, along with money, slaves, and land.
But later, Li Yuan actually gave him 1,600 taels of gold ingots from the Luoyang treasury, with 100 catties of gold ingots, without any discount.

But the emperor also had a ruthless side, capable of discarding his tools after they had served their purpose and settling scores afterward.

For example, when Xue Ju died, Xue Rengao surrendered after his defeat, and Li Shimin accepted him and even granted him an official position. However, Li Yuan insisted on dragging Xue Rengao and his brothers, as well as a group of important officials and generals of Western Qin, to Chang'an to be beheaded.

For example, Li Gui of Hexi, who was once on friendly terms with Li Yuan, was beheaded without mercy after Li Yuan's defeat. Similarly, Yin Shishi and Wei Wensheng, who resisted Li Yuan's entry into Chang'an, were all executed after Li Yuan captured the city.

There was also the historical figure Du Fuwei, the King of Wu, who died suddenly in Chang'an. Even after his death, he was accused of treason, and his wife and children were enslaved.

Liu Wenjing and Zhao Wenge were both meritorious officials in Taiyuan, with much higher status than Sheng Yanshi, yet they were still killed without hesitation.

I sat in the dark room for a long time.
Li Yi sorted out his thoughts. A ruler is a ruler, and a subject is a subject. He still had to be mindful of the boundaries. Serving a ruler is like serving a tiger.

I picked up the ink stick, dripped a few drops of water into the inkstone, and began grinding the ink.

Li Yi picked up his pen and submitted a memorial to the emperor, first honestly taking the blame for the death of Li Yiman. He admitted that he had failed to supervise the matter properly and handle it in a timely manner, which led to Li Yiman's death in prison and triggered the fall of Yunzhou and Jizhou, the rebellion of Li Wuyi in Tanzhou, and the attack on Qizhou.

Therefore, Li Yi asked the emperor to resign from his concurrent posts, including Inspector General of Works, Inspector General of the Palace Attendants, Minister of War, Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince, Left Guard Commander of the Crown Prince, and General of the Banner of Wannian Road.

He only retained a few positions: Left Vice Minister of the Shaanxi-Eastern Circuit, Pacification Commissioner of Henan Circuit, Governor-General of Luozhou, and Prefect. Resigning from these positions would be tantamount to abandoning his post, which would be irresponsible and even appear as a form of blackmail.

First, get your posture right.
Then, a detailed report was given on the causes and consequences of the incident caused by Li Yiman, Wang Bo, and Li Wuyi. The main responsibility lay with Wang Bo, since he was dead anyway.

Sheng Yanshi bears secondary responsibility for negligence and improper handling of the matter.

Of course, Li Yiman committed suicide after being humiliated by Wang Bo for settling a personal score. Li Wuyi acted impulsively to avenge his uncle, but he did not follow the proper channels. He should have appealed to Li Yi or reported to the court first, instead of colluding with the enemy to rebel.

Li Yi also praised Sheng Yanshi for his unwavering loyalty after being captured, for devising a plan to sow discord even while trapped in the enemy camp, and for successfully turning Liu Shiche against the enemy, thus helping the court achieve a great victory at Rencheng, capturing and killing 15,000 men, and making great contributions to the pacification of Xu Yuanlang.

Finally, he wrote down some policies to appease Henan, such as exempting the region from rent and taxes for a year after the war, but temporarily levying two special taxes based on household class and land area to supply military needs and local expenses. Li Yi could even supply the Chang'an court and the Qin Prince's camp in Hebei with a sum of money and grain.

Exempting people from rent and taxes and levying two taxes are all expedient measures. The aim is to obtain what is needed for maintenance while minimizing harm to ordinary people after the war. Levying rent and taxes on them will undoubtedly force more people to hide and refuse to be registered.

It would be better to levy taxes on the wealthy and powerful households with more property and land first.

The sun rises in the east.

Li Yi's eyes were bloodshot as he wrote a lengthy memorial. He had stayed up all night, writing and revising, and finally copying it all over again until his hand ached.

When Li Yi went to have breakfast, he kept yawning.

He greeted Li Daliang, Yuwen Shiji, Li Boyi and others.

Today's breakfast was quite substantial, including stewed fish, lamb bone soup, millet porridge, steamed buns, and soup dumplings.

Li Yi didn't order mutton or mutton soup, but only two steamed buns, a bowl of millet porridge, and a bottle of fermented tofu.

This was made by Luo San Niang herself, and Li Yi stored it in his spatial storage.

Fermented tofu goes very well with congee.

Li Daliang and his companions also came over and took a piece without any hesitation.

"Your eyes are all red. Did you stay up all night writing memorials for the Emperor?" Li Daliang asked.

"Ah."

Li Fengci said, "That Sheng Yanshi is usually so arrogant, I don't think you need to save him at all, Wuyi."

Niu Jinda and the others listened in silence. You Li family really don't take us meritorious soldiers seriously, do you?

Li Yi changed the subject, "Didn't we have stewed fish and mutton bone soup today? Why aren't you eating?"

Li Boyi lowered his voice and said, "Some auxiliary soldiers were fishing with nets in the Sishui River earlier, and a lot of the fish had fingernails and hair inside their bellies. Damn it, who would dare to eat them now?"

"Exactly, I even ate raw fish from the Sihe River before. Damn it, when I heard they found fingernails and hairs inside the fish after cutting it open, I almost threw up my gall bladder."

The two princes have followed Li Yi for the past two years in conquering Hedong, pacifying Shannan, and stabilizing Henan. Even if they haven't made any great contributions, they have certainly worked hard. Moreover, they were raised at home by their uncle Li Yuan since they were young. Now they have both been promoted to chief stewards.

Although they have been spending more time in the military these past two years and haven't been enjoying the same extravagant lifestyles as before, they really wouldn't dare eat a fish with fingernails and hairs inside its belly.

My stomach reacts to the mere mention of fish. "I probably won't be able to eat raw fish anymore."

"I don't even want to drink fish soup anymore."

The two brothers now have a fish phobia.

Li Daliang and the others aren't that fussy, but they're also temporarily not eating fish.

Everyone knows what it means to find fingernails and hair inside a fish's belly; with frequent wars, this kind of thing is not uncommon.

Ordinary soldiers, and even prisoners, wouldn't care about these things, since they didn't see them with their own eyes anyway.

Compared to hunger, eating fish is nothing.

During the Great Famine, it was not uncommon for people to exchange their own children for food.

They also enjoyed the mutton bone soup. Actually, the mutton bone soup was made by reheating the bones from the mutton they had eaten the day before.

The noble princes and generals naturally couldn't drink it.

Li Yi also refused to drink.

"When will we cross the Yellow River to the north and conquer Hebei?" Li Daliang asked.

“The Dragon Boat Festival is just around the corner, and the wheat in Henan will ripen and be harvested around that time. I plan to head north immediately to help Dou Jiande harvest the wheat.” Li Yi stirred the fermented bean curd into the porridge.

"That's good. Judging from the weather this year, we probably won't be able to harvest wheat until after the Dragon Boat Festival. We can go to Hebei to harvest it quickly and use the enemy's grain as our own."

Dou Jiande's main force was still locked in a stalemate with Li Shimin in Ye City.

The King of Qin truly has composure. Whether it was fighting Xue Ju in Jingzhou, or later garrisoning troops at Baibi in Hedong to fight Liu Wuzhou, or besieging Luoyang, or now garrisoning troops in Ye County in Hebei.

He rarely acts rashly; he is always very patient in looking for opportunities.

This standoff should have been disadvantageous to Tang, since Tang was the attacking side and its logistical support would have been much more difficult.

But now that Tang has annexed Wang Shichong, Dou Jiande's previous missed opportunity has been undone, and the Tang Dynasty now surrounds Hebei with Hedong, Henan, and Henan provinces.

Li Shimin stationed his troops in Ye County, and the rear supply lines were not actually far away, let alone difficult.

The wheat is almost ripe now.

Li Yi led his army north again. According to the emperor's decree, there was no need to fight in Yecheng; he could simply sweep through Henan just like last year.

He then swept through Weibo and other areas east of the Grand Canal in Hebei, making it equally unbearable for Dou Jiande.

If the troops are divided, Li Shimin will seize the opportunity to launch an attack and transfer troops from the rear, which will allow Li Yi in the north to be suppressed.

Without troop redeployment, the local army in Weibo will find it difficult to withstand Li Yi's offensive.

Of course, what made Dou Jiande even more uneasy was that the Tang army advanced in several directions, and didn't even need to besiege any cities; they directly seized the wheat in Hebei.

So what will Dou Jiande use to resist next?
It must be said that the speed at which the Tang army captured Luoyang last year was beyond what Dou Jiande and his ministers had expected. They all thought that Wang Shichong could at least hold out until this time of year, but he surrendered before the New Year was even over.

The speed of this operation, especially the fact that the Tang army had not suffered any major losses, caught Dou Jiande of Hebei off guard. He had thought he had six months to take Youzhou first.

The result was that Youzhou was not captured, but Wang Shichong was gone, followed by the entire Zheng state. The several prefectures south of the Yellow River that had surrendered to him also surrendered to the Tang Dynasty.

One step wrong, step by step wrong.

"Go to Hebei to harvest wheat and eat the new grain"—this was the slogan for the Tang army's next advance in Henan.

Now, after streamlining and consolidation, Henan Province consists of nine general administrations, twenty-seven prefectures, and over a hundred counties. Of the troops east of the Grand Canal, only about ten thousand were selected to remain, while the remaining tens of thousands were dismissed and discharged.

The remaining 10,000 or so people will now need to be reorganized.

This time, these 10,000-plus people will basically be crossing the river to the north.

After discussing with Li Daliang and others, Li Yi decided to mobilize 40,000 men to attack Weibo, dividing them into left and right armies. Li Yi personally led the left army of 20,000 men, 14,000 combat soldiers and 6,000 auxiliary soldiers. He crossed the river at Baima in Huazhou and went up the Grand Canal to attack Dou Jiande's Weizhou, Bozhou and Beizhou line.

Li Daliang, the governor of Xuzhou, commanded the right army, which also numbered 20,000 men. He crossed the Yellow River from the direction of Qizhou and marched north to attack the prefectures of De, Di, Cang, and Ji.

Li Yi's deputy generals were Du Caigan and Jiang Shanhe, and his chief clerk was Yuwen Shiji. Li Daliang's deputy generals were Liu Lancheng and Qi Gongshun, and his chief clerk was Zhang Liang.

Li Yi also had generals Niu Jinda, Wu Heita, and Liu Shiche under his command.

"The King of Longxi and the King of Bohai will remain to govern Bianzhou and Qizhou respectively."

The area south of the Huai River is now the territory of Wu King Li Fuwei, under the jurisdiction of the Southeast Circuit Administration, which also belongs to the Tang Dynasty. Although it is a separatist force, Li Fuwei is currently vying with Li Zitong for the Wu-Yue region, with his focus on the area south of the Yangtze River. Li Yi does not need to worry about Li Fuwei's Huainan garrison commander daring to have any ideas about Huaibei.

The fact that 40,000 troops from both the left and right wings were crossing the river was news that would make Dou Jiande extremely uneasy.

"Brothers, let's take Weibo and celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival!"

(End of this chapter)