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

Chapter 434 Horses Trampling Both Banks of the Yellow River
The sky was dark.
Rain is coming.

Li Yi arrived at Yanzhou Prison carrying a food box. With his permission, Sheng Yanshi was not locked in a dark dungeon, but was temporarily placed in a storeroom.

"Lord Ge, let's have a couple of drinks together."

Song Yi opened the food box and took out several dishes to accompany the drinks, including roasted mutton, braised pig's head, stir-fried liver, stewed pig's lung, and stir-fried broad beans.

A pot of persimmon liquor.

After setting out the wine, dishes, bowls, and chopsticks, Song Yi withdrew.

The storeroom was simple, but much better than a dungeon. Sheng Yanshi wasn't wearing prison clothes or shackles; he was dressed in a white linen robe with a cloth belt around his waist.

Sheng Yanshi is actually quite young, not even forty.

"Thank you for remembering me, Master Sikong."

Li Yi poured wine for the two of them, and they chatted as they drank.

Sheng Yanshi, who came from the Sheng family of Yucheng in Liang County, spoke with a refined manner. He was actually a scholar with a wealth of knowledge and served as the magistrate of Chengcheng County during the Daye era. He was also a civil official.

However, later the world fell into chaos, and Li Yuan raised an army in Taiyuan and marched south. Sheng Yanshi, with his discerning eye, recognized Li Yuan's potential and believed that he could achieve great things. So he led more than a thousand people to the north to welcome him.

He had good judgment, which enabled him to become a founding hero.

Later, Li Mi surrendered but then rebelled again, fleeing to Xiong Prefecture. Shi Wanbao, fearing the names of Li Mi and Wang Bodang, dared not engage in battle. Sheng Yanshi, however, claimed that with a few thousand men, he could wipe out these two traitors.

Persimmon wine has a strong flavor.

After a few drinks, Sheng Yanshi became more talkative, discussing the Sheng family's reputation in Yucheng and recounting his ambitions in his youth.

"In the early days of the Great Cause, the country was so prosperous, like oil boiling on a raging fire. But who could have imagined that the great building would suddenly collapse and the world would be in chaos?"

"Emperor Yang of Sui actually caused the Sui Dynasty to perish after only two generations."

Li Yi picked up a piece of pig lung, which was stewed with peanuts and was quite chewy. He listened as Sheng Yanshi, slightly drunk, reminisced about the old days.

Li Yi smiled and said, "Emperor Yang was indeed quite capable, but he was too hasty in his actions, especially later on when he stopped listening to the truth from his subordinates. As a result, his close attendants and favored ministers simply told blatant lies."
Later, he didn't even know what the country was really like anymore. Rebellions were rampant throughout the land, but he still thought it was just small groups of bandits in some places.
Tell me, how can such an emperor lead the country to prosperity and make the people wealthy?

His grand ambitions had long since become detached from the lives of ordinary people. Even if he conquered Goguryeo, pacified the three kingdoms of Liaodong, and even annihilated the Turks, Lin-yi, Tuyuhun, and others...

That would be putting the cart before the horse.

When doing things, one must be down-to-earth. He ignored people's livelihood and disregarded their lives, so the final result was naturally that the dynasty would perish after only two generations.

Water can carry a boat, and it can also overturn it.

Even the grandest ideals must be aligned with reality.

Sheng Yanshi was taken aback.

He picked up his wine glass and downed the remaining half in one gulp: "Sikong's words are very insightful. I did underestimate you before. I will punish myself with three cups!"

"Don't rush, Master Sheng, let's drink slowly. This persimmon wine has a strong aftereffect."

Speaking of the Li Yiman case, Sheng Yanshi also admitted that he was indeed somewhat rash, and even confessed his true thoughts at the time after drinking. He felt that Wang Bo and Li Yiman were both local military leaders, and they had old grudges and were attacking each other, which was just like dogs fighting each other.

Li Yiman refused to obey orders to collect military rations, which displeased Sheng Yanshi. He wanted to use Wang Bo to punish Li Yiman as a warning to others. However, Wang Bo went too far and Li Yiman committed suicide in prison.

What Li Yiman's nephew, Tan Zhou, the military advisor, unexpectedly colluded with Xu Yuanlang to seize Yunzhou in one fell swoop, causing such a huge subsequent disaster, was something he had never imagined.

"I was careless."

As a court official, Sheng Yanshi was not wrong to want to suppress local military leaders, but he did not control them well. Even if he imprisoned Li Yiman, he should not have let Wang Bo interrogate him, let alone torture and humiliate him.

The emperor wanted to kill Sheng Yanshi not because he suppressed local military leaders, but because his suppression was poorly executed and caused a major incident, which made the emperor decide to kill him.

Whether in Shannan or Henan, Li Yi, as the Pacification Commissioner, consistently suppressed local military leaders and powerful clans.

However, Li Yi was able to control the situation, and the result of the suppression was beneficial to the court. The emperor would only promote him and grant him higher official titles.

Sheng Yanshi suppressed rebellions in three prefectures, and the governor was captured. Of course, the responsibility must be investigated.

Otherwise, if everyone acts recklessly like this in the future, it will be disastrous.

After finishing a pot of persimmon liquor,

Sheng Yanshi was already drunk.

After finishing his meal, Li Yi got up to leave.

Sheng Yanshi pulled Li Yi along and bowed to him again in gratitude.

"Regardless of whether the Emperor can spare my life this time, I am grateful to Sikong for pleading for me."

“We are colleagues, so naturally I have to speak up for you. Just wait patiently for news. I believe the sage will remember your contributions and ultimately punish you leniently.”

Li Yi returned to the backyard of the governor's mansion, already seven or eight parts drunk.

Song Yi and Chen Lingjiao helped him to bed, took off his boots and clothes, and then wet a towel to wipe his face.

"Would you like some tea, Ah Lang?"

"Bring me a pot of green tea, but not too strong."

"I know, steep in boiling water and strain immediately."

The two servants who attended to him were, after all, rather clumsy and inept.

Li Yi leaned against the couch, slowly sipping hot tea from his teacup.

"Why should you take Sheng Yanshi's matter upon yourself, Ah Lang? The Emperor has already issued a decree to execute him."

Li Yi sighed, "Sheng Yanshi is my chief steward. I can't just stand by and watch him die, especially since his crime isn't something that warrants death. If I don't help him today, I won't be able to live with myself."

Not to mention, the soldiers would think I, as their superior, lacked responsibility and couldn't care for my subordinates.

"Can a sage forgive Sheng Yanshi?"

"It's hard to say, there's a 50% chance they won't kill them."

"If Sheng Yanshi hadn't been beheaded this time, he would have remembered Ah Lang for the rest of his life."

"Forget it, I didn't do this out of gratitude." The trenches dug by the prisoners of war outside Yanzhou City were filled in by them again. Each time they dug them, it counted as part of their regular service; exceeding the quota would still earn them a bonus. Filling them in again also counted as part of their regular service; exceeding the quota would still earn them a bonus.

Groups of prisoners of war returned home with pardon and deportation documents. Li Yi also gave each of them some travel expenses and documents for regular service.

Li Shiji, the governor of Yanzhou, is currently accompanying the Prince of Qin on his campaign in Hebei.

Li Yi appointed Lu Chengqing as the Inspector General of Yanzhou and temporarily put him in charge of the affairs of the Yanzhou General Administration.

After reorganization, the troops were divided into two armies, one on the left and one on the right, heading north, as well as a portion of troops left to guard Henan.

In the morning breeze,
Li Yi and Li Daliang parted ways outside Yanzhou City.

Li Yishun traveled down the Si River to Fangyu County, then followed the He River northwest to Baima Ferry in Huazhou, and then went to Hebei. Li Daliang, on the other hand, traveled up the Si River, passed through Qianfeng and the Wen River, passed through the Taishan Pass to Qizhou, and then crossed the Yellow River at Yucheng to Pingyuan County in Dezhou.

"Bon Voyage!"

Two armies, one heading north and the other south, with auxiliary troops using the Sishui River to transport provisions, equipment, and supplies via rafts and boats.
Li Yijun went downstream, which was more convenient.

On the Si River, countless wooden boats and rafts moved about, while thousands of horses and soldiers also traveled along the banks.

Li Yi's personal guards patrolled the troops with flags, strictly prohibiting them from trampling on the crops.

The weather was fine and sunny.

Li Yi did not take a boat, but instead rode a horse and followed the troops at a slow pace.

The marching speed was not fast. The rebellion had been quelled, but the marching also had its own set of rules. The army used the Sishui River to transport food and supplies, and the entire army marched sixty li a day.

Marching across the plains, especially within our own territory, meant we didn't have to carry armor and supplies. The only downside was the sweltering heat at midday in summer. Although it wasn't yet the Dragon Boat Festival, it was already quite hot at midday.

After marching for ten consecutive days,

On the first day of the fifth month, Li Yi led 20,000 troops from Yanzhou to Huazhou, crossed the Yellow River at Baimadu, and entered Weizhou territory.

Second year of junior high school

Li Yi led his army to Liyang and also gathered a lot of the latest developments in the Hebei war.

Yexian front line,

It can be said that there has been no progress.

The two armies remained locked in a stalemate in Ye City.
Li Shimin crossed the Yellow River in mid-March, and now a month and a half has passed. The two sides are playing a game of "if the enemy doesn't move, I won't move."

Dou Jiande's Xia army, with its back to the Zhang River and relying on the cities of Ye County and Linzhang, set up a series of camps with tens of thousands of troops to block the Tang army's path and protect the Zhang River and the Grand Canal.

After recapturing Xiangzhou, Li Shimin did not rush to attack, but instead led his troops to set up camps for a standoff.

This standoff, which has lasted for more than a month, shows no sign of ending.

Neither side is taking the initiative to attack; they are both trying to wear each other down.

However, the situation was clearly unfavorable to Dou Jiande. His main force was drawn to the south by Li Shimin, while Li Yi of Youzhou had already sent troops south to attack Yizhou, and Li Kaidao also led 2,000 cavalry to assist him.

Liu Shirang of Hedong also led his troops out of Jingxing and attacked Huangzhou City under the jurisdiction of Hengzhou General Administration, while Li Da'en also went out of Feihu Pass and attacked the west of Yiding.

Now, Li Yi and Li Daliang are leading 40,000 troops north.

Dou Jiande was already surrounded by enemies on all sides.

Ye County.

In just over a month, Li Yi successively quelled the rebellions of Meng Haigong, Xu Yuanlang, Zhang Qingte, Fu De, and Zang Junxiang, and quickly led his troops north. News arrived that they had already crossed the Yellow River.
Dou Jiande almost couldn't catch his breath.

The Xia King vigorously rubbed his face with his rough, large hands. Dou Jiande, who was forty-nine years old this year, was once just a village head, but he was very famous in the village. When his father passed away, more than a thousand people came to the funeral.

Later, during the campaign against Liaodong, Dou Jiande was appointed as the commander of two hundred men.

If it weren't for the chaos in the world, he might have spent his life as a village head or township chief, owning hundreds of acres of land, with wives, concubines, and children—that would have been his life.

But in this chaotic world, the government killed his entire family on the grounds that he was colluding with bandits, forcing him to seek refuge with Gao Shida in Gaojibo.

After ten years of hard work, he rose from a commander of two hundred men to the current King of Xia.

Every step was earned with my life on the line.

But are we destined to lose in the end?
Over the years, he experienced countless battles between rebel armies and bandits, defeating Guo Xuan, the prefect of Zhuojun, Yang Yichen, the Grand Master of the Palace, and Wang Cong, the assistant prefect of Hejian, and even killing Xue Shixiong, the Right General of the Imperial Guard.

Later, he defeated Wang Xuba, the bandit leader of Shanggu, and Wei Dao'er, the flying general of Lishan, and also defeated Yuwen Huaji, the regicide, in Liaocheng.
This journey has been incredibly difficult.

“I regret listening to slander and unjustly killing Grand Councilor Song Zhengben and General Wang Fubao.”

Upon hearing this, the Left Minister Qi Shanxing, the Right Minister Pei Shiju, the Attendant Cui Junsu, the Minister of Ceremonies Ouyang Xun, the Attendant Gentleman of the Palace Yu Shinan, the Attendant Gentleman of the Palace Kong Shaode, the Acting Chief Minister Cao Dan, the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy Ling Jing, the Grand General Gao Yaxian, and the rest of the group fell silent.

Liu Heita, the Duke of Handong, stood up.

"Why should the King of Xia boost the morale of others and diminish his own? I believe that Li Yi's so-called 40,000 troops crossing the river to attack are at most 20,000, of which only about 10,000 are combat soldiers."

"I have a plan to execute Li Yi!"

"Oh, Lord Handong, tell me quickly!" Dou Jiande perked up.

Liu Heita's plan was simple: to turn the tables on Li Shimin and continue the standoff, drawing away his main force.

Then, they secretly dispatched elite troops to Weizhou to confront Li Yi.

"I observe that although Li Yi is known for his skill in defending cities, he has no real achievements in field battles. Our elite troops from Wei and Zhao in Hebei can annihilate him in one fell swoop in field battles."

"Kill Li Yi, then outflank Li Shimin's army from behind. Disguise them as Li Yi's troops, and launch a pincer attack from the north and south, annihilating Li Shimin in one fell swoop!" Liu Heita clenched his fist and clenched it forcefully. "Then, take advantage of the momentum to march south and cross the river, seizing the entire Henan province in one fell swoop!"
"When the King of Xia enters Luoyang, he can formally ascend the throne and become emperor!"

Dou Jiande's breathing quickened.

Although he has now erected imperial banners, issued edicts and decrees, and appointed officials, he has not yet proclaimed himself emperor.

But deep down, how could he not want to become emperor?

He conquered Henan, entered Luoyang, ascended the throne, and ruled the world.

Dou Jiande nodded at Liu Heita.

(End of this chapter)