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

Chapter 452 Senior Brother Wei

Mingzhou, Yongnian City, Wanchun Palace.

Liu Heita led several dozen cavalrymen back in defeat, bringing news of the loss.

The civil and military officials stationed in Mingzhou went to the palace to pay their respects to Cao, the wife of Dou Jiande.

Liu Heita hadn't even had time to remove his armor, and he was covered in sweat and smelled of acid. Ignoring his rudeness in front of Cao Shi, he spoke bluntly: "The Ming River suffered a crushing defeat, and the Xia King unfortunately fell into enemy hands."
Now, we request that the son of King Lixia be appointed as leader to continue gathering troops and fight against the Tang army.

Dou Jiande had no biological sons, only two daughters. His eldest daughter, nicknamed Hongxian, was born to his first wife. In his early years, Dou Jiande also married and had children in Zhangnan, but later the government accused him of colluding with bandits and executed his entire family. Only his daughter Hongxian escaped.

He remarried to a woman surnamed Cao, but they only had one daughter, who is now less than two years old.

Dou Jiande had several adopted sons, but given the current situation, if he truly submitted to the adopted son of the King of Xia as his master, how could he possibly resist the Tang army?
Wang Xiaohu bluntly said, "Let's just go back to Gaojibo and do our old job; it'll be carefree and enjoyable."

Some people from coastal areas like Cangzhou even said they'd rather become pirates.

In any case, there are not many people who really want to continue fighting the Tang army.

Cao Shi held her young daughter, her face pale. Her husband had been captured, and she knew nothing about her brother. She was left with only a widow and her daughter. What was she to do?

"I have a few words to say."

An official in a scarlet robe stepped forward, and everyone looked to see that it was Wei Zheng, the Imperial Diarist. He was also from Hebei, and later served as Li Mi's secretary. He then joined the Tang Dynasty as the Secretary Assistant, and was sent as an envoy to Shandong. In the end, he was captured by the King of Xia, but was still given an official position, which he had held for more than two years.

“Please speak, Wei Sheren,” said Lady Cao.

Wei Zheng stepped forward and said, “At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Henan and Hebei suffered the most turmoil. The Xia King and many of his brothers initially became outlaws just to survive. I also became a Taoist priest to survive back then.”

With the might and martial prowess of the Xia king, who pacified Hebei and whose soldiers and horses were strong and well-trained, yet he was defeated and captured in a single battle. The defeat was too quick and too easy. Isn't this the will of Heaven?

This is beyond human control.

Now that we have suffered such a defeat, there is no point in defending the country, and fleeing will not prevent the country from falling. Since that is the case, why continue to harm the people?

Why not lower the price?
Those who refuse to surrender and only want to get rich should divide up all the gold and silk in the treasury. They should also refrain from plundering the people. Having taken the gold, silk, and money, they can return to their hometowns and live peacefully as wealthy men.

Liu Heita was very unwilling and kept shouting that he wanted to raise troops again to fight the Tang army, and even said that he wanted to rescue the King of Xia.

Pei Shiju, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, bluntly stated: "The defeat at Mingshui has led to the destruction of the state. The Tang army will soon be at the gates of Mingzhou. Once the Xia King falls into the hands of the Tang army, there will be no chance of rescuing him."

It would be better to surrender willingly; perhaps then the Tang Emperor would spare the Xia King's life.

"There are still hundreds of thousands of bolts of silk in the treasury. Why not take them out and distribute them to the more than 10,000 soldiers stationed in Mingzhou, so that they can disperse and avoid robbing the people on their way home?"

Wei Zheng and Pei Shiju strongly advocated surrender.

Their proposal received support from many people, especially former Sui Dynasty officials. Cui Junsu, Minister of Works He Chou, Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat Yu Shinan, Zhang Xuansu, Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices Ouyang Xun, and Vice Minister of the Left Liu Diao were all former Sui Dynasty officials. Many of them were taken north from Jiangdu by Yuwen Huaji and captured in Liucheng.

Each of them held important positions in the central government of the Xia Kingdom.

At this point, however, they all agreed to surrender to the Tang Dynasty.

Many of them still had relatives and families in Chang'an and businesses in Guanzhong. They had no choice but to submit to Dou Jiande in the first place, so of course they were willing to surrender to the Tang Dynasty now.

As for Dou Jiande's old sworn brothers like Liu Heita, there were few left at this time. The remaining members were mostly locals from Hebei, whose official positions and reputations were neither high enough.

They didn't want to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, but they couldn't defeat the Tang army. At this point, all they wanted was to break up the group and divide up some property.

Some people even made worst-case scenario plans, thinking that if all else failed, they would go back to their old ways and become bandits or pirates.

Cao's family had long lost their own opinions and had no courage to continue fighting.

In the end, they agreed to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, allowing Pei Shiju and Wei Zheng to open the treasury, bring out hundreds of thousands of bolts of silk, and distribute them to the soldiers in Mingzhou. Then everyone dispersed.

"Please have the Right Minister write a letter of surrender, saying that the King of Xia is surrendering his territory."

Pei Shiju nodded, "I propose that Wei Sheren be sent as an envoy to the Tang camp. I have heard that Wei Sheren and Li Yi, the Tang Minister of Works and Attendant-in-Ordinary, are fellow disciples. I would like to ask Wei Sheren to speak well of Li Yi and ask him to forgive Hebei and treat the people well."

Wei Zheng readily agreed.

So, the next step was to distribute money and silk.

At this time, the soldiers in the city had heard that the Xia king had been defeated and captured. The atmosphere in the city was oppressive. When Cao Shi appeared at the palace gate, holding the Xia king's young daughter, announced the surrender, and offered to distribute money and silk to the soldiers so that they could return home, the Xia army was moved and some even cried.

"King Xia has been defeated; it is the will of Heaven. Take this money and do not harm the people. You are all from Hebei; go back to your hometown and live a peaceful life."

An astonishing scene unfolded in Mingzhou.

The more than 10,000 soldiers who remained behind spontaneously maintained order, and no one rioted or looted.

Everyone helped transport the hundreds of thousands of bolts of silk from the imperial treasury to the main street in front of the palace gate.

Then, under the organization of the officials, the prizes were distributed one by one.

Each person received several dozen bolts of silk and some copper coins.

The gifts may not be many, but they represent a small token of the Xia King and Queen's affection for everyone.

"Everyone can go home now, but please leave your armor, crossbows, and spears behind. You can also take your horses, swords, and bows and arrows with you for protection on the road."
But let's keep the armor, crossbows, spears, and large shields.
"These are all prohibited items; if they are discovered being kept in private, it will only bring disaster," Wei Zheng reminded the crowd.

Most soldiers were unwilling to carry heavy armor and shields on their way home, so they readily removed their armor and left behind only their bows and arrows. Those with horses led them, while those without horses were given mules or donkeys.

The distribution was carried out in an orderly manner.

Those who received money and silk were to immediately leave the city and return to their hometowns, and were not allowed to linger in the city, much less enter people's homes or markets to harass people and merchants.

The money and silk were distributed for three days and three nights.
The entire process was very orderly, without any disturbance, which shows that Dou Jiande's Xia Dynasty was indeed quite disciplined, and the Xia King was very authoritative.

Even if they have been defeated and perished now,

Even when officials were loyal to the Cao family, and troops were dismissed and money was distributed, everything was still done in an orderly manner.

Liu Heita was very unwilling, but what could he do now that things had come to this? However, he was unwilling to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, as his younger brother Shishan had died at the hands of the Tang army. He accepted the gifts from the Cao family and left with a hundred taels of gold.

I'm going back to my hometown to continue growing vegetables.

Mingshui.

After the great victory on July 15, the Tang army did not rush to advance on Mingzhou, but instead rested and reorganized.

Although the Tang army suffered only over three thousand casualties in this battle...
But it was also very hard and tiring, and it was hard to recover for a while. In addition, 50,000 prisoners were captured. They had to verify their identities, disperse the surrendered soldiers, organize and record the battle achievements, register the seized materials, and so on. There were still many things to do after the war.

However, Li Yi was quite relaxed.

He didn't have to worry about those trivial matters; he, as the deputy commander of the army, became a hands-off manager.

It is still wartime, and Hebei is still under temporary military control. Li Yi, the Left Vice Minister of the Shandong Circuit, is not in a hurry to take over; he would love to slack off for a while.

The day after the battle, Li Yi moved out of Mingshui, to a place twenty miles away. Mingshui was no longer habitable; the moat was filled with rotting corpses.
The day outside the city, tens of thousands of people were killed in a massacre, and even after the bodies were cleared away, a terrible stench still lingered.

Li Yi now lives in an estate newly bestowed upon him by Li Shimin, which has 1,000 mu of land. Liu Heizi and Luo Dafu each have 500 mu of land next to his estate.

Those two were incredibly lucky; it was like a windfall. After the battle, during the pursuit, they chased each other for thirty miles, carrying torches.

As they prepared to return, they encountered a wounded enemy general on the way. He was dressed in unremarkable armor, and they initially assumed he was just a minor officer.

Seeing that he was covered in blood, he prepared to stab him to death with a spear, cut off his head, and go back to claim credit. But then he discovered that the other party claimed to be the King of Xia.

I didn't believe it at first, but the other party took out a jade seal and a gold seal. Although they weren't the national seal, they were clearly not ordinary.

On the way back to the city, they encountered Generals Bai Shirang and Yang Wuwei, who were pursuing them. They insisted that they had wounded the prisoner and that the prisoner should belong to them.

They almost got into a fight.

Fortunately, the King of Qin was generous and kind, and all four of them were awarded the merit of leaping and jumping, and were also directly granted the title of three-level meritorious service, second-level honorary position and first-level substantive position.

Liu Heizi was promoted to General of the Cavalry, and Luo Dafu was also promoted to General of the Chariots and Cavalry.

Now, one of them is a fifth-rank official and the other is a sixth-rank official.

He also received a lot of money and silk as rewards, as well as two horses and five hundred acres of land, located north of Mingshui City, bordering the Zhang River.

They were very satisfied with the estate they were given as a reward, and even more satisfied that it was adjacent to Li Yi's estate.

The weather is still hot.

The two brought watermelons to find Li Yi.

Liu Heizi deliberately wore a scarlet robe to show that he was now a fifth-rank noble.

"Where did you get this scarlet robe?" Li Yi asked with a smile as he lay under the pavilion in the manor.

"I specially sought this out; it cost several thousand coins," Liu Heizi said proudly. "Young master, how do I look in this scarlet outfit?"

The lower level of the fifth grade is light crimson.

The pinnacle of officialdom that many people never reach in their entire lives—who would have thought that a former refugee and a landlord's farmhand would now be wearing a light scarlet official robe and becoming a General of the Cavalry, a fifth-rank official?

Circumstances truly create heroes.

"You look completely different in this outfit; you look much more dignified."

"It's all thanks to Ah Lang. Without Ah Lang's constant support, I, Liu Heizi, wouldn't be where I am today."

Li Yi smiled and said to Da Fu, "You're only one step away from wearing the Scarlet Robe. Keep up the good work, and you'll be able to wear it too."

The brother-in-law was quite satisfied. "I used to be just a farmer, grinding tofu in my spare time. I never dared to dream that I could become a sixth-rank official. Most county magistrates are only seventh-rank officials. In my eyes, the village head who was in charge of a hundred households was a big shot. The township head and the township assistant were unattainable."

"Hahaha." Everyone laughed together.

"Ah Lang, is this battle almost over?" Liu Heizi asked.

"Ah."

"Then we'll have to go back to Henan, but Alang wants to stay in Hebei. Can we stay?"

"After Hebei is pacified, the imperial court will probably set up the General Cavalry and General Chariot Cavalry Offices in Hebei to station troops there permanently. We'll talk about that later. After this campaign, you should also be able to get a vacation to go back to Yushu Township and spend some quality time with your families."

“Hei Zi, you are now a dignified fifth-rank official, dressed in scarlet and silver. You should give yourself a proper name.”

Hei Zi laughed and said, "Please give me a name, Ah Lang."

"Liu Heizi, how about the proper name Xuan Ye?"

"Liu Xuanye, this name sounds good. Thank you, Alang, for bestowing this name upon me."

Liu Heizi was very satisfied with the name. As they were chatting, Song Yi came over to report, "Master, a man who claims to be Master's senior brother Wei Zheng is requesting an audience."

"Senior Brother Wei has arrived. Please come in. No, I will go to greet him myself."

In the first year of the Wude era, Wei Zheng followed Li Mi to Chang'an to surrender to the Tang Dynasty. Later, he volunteered to go to Shandong to pacify Xu Shiji. He was later captured in Lizhou along with Li Shentong and others.
In the blink of an eye, it's been almost three years since I was captured.

Li Yi rushed to the entrance of the manor to greet him.

"Senior brother, long time no see."

Wei Zheng dismounted, looked Li Yi up and down, and said with some emotion, "Yes, it's been a long time, almost three years."

"Senior brother, please come inside. We brothers must catch up."

(End of this chapter)