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

Chapter 497 Damn it!

"I can't have a peaceful New Year."

In the East Market of Mingzhou, at Wang's Fried Tofu Shop, Li Yi, Yun Dingxing, and several other staff members, dressed in casual clothes, were grilling tofu.

As the year draws to a close, the Turkic rebellion in Gaokaidao has led to a Turkic invasion, and the flames of war have spread to Yiding, causing widespread panic throughout Hebei.

The tofu is slowly baked on the stove, being turned over constantly.

Military advisor Liu Xian skillfully used long chopsticks to place the puffed-up tofu onto Li Yi's plate, saying, "Eat it while it's hot, Commander."

There were two dipping saucers in front of Li Yi, one dry and one wet. The dry sauce was spicy and salty. He picked up a piece of tofu with a crispy outer skin, dipped it in the dry sauce, and ate it while it was hot. He took a bite, and it was steaming hot with a faint fermented flavor. With the dipping sauce, it was spicy, salty, and fragrant.

Next, we have a dipping sauce. This one highlights the aroma of sesame oil and garlic. Dip the tofu in it, and the seasonings are absorbed into the tofu's dense pores, making the flavor even richer.

"This shop can't be closed, otherwise Mingzhou will lose a delicious dish," Li Yi said with a smile.

The fried food shop was closed today, so they specially cleared the area to accommodate Li Yi and his party.

Liu Canjun said with a smile, "Third Sister is also reluctant to give up this shop, but now that she is an official's wife, it's not appropriate for her to show her face in public anymore. It has already been agreed that we will hire a few people to run it."

Li Yi nodded. Liu Shusheng's life was getting better. Although he had been kidnapped to Fenglong Mountain, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Now he had become a ninth-rank military advisor in Li Yi's Prince's Mansion.

Although his rank was low, he was still a minor official, and moreover, he was a military advisor to Li Yi. Li Yi observed him for a while and found that Military Advisor Liu was indeed quite learned, not just a bookish pedant, so he assigned him more tasks.

Ma Zhou ate a few pieces of grilled tofu. "No wonder the grilled tofu tastes a little different today."

"It's not entirely because of the change in personnel," Liu Canjun explained. "We've also changed the tofu we use now. We're using tofu from Yusu Tofu Shop, and this new tofu is much better than the tofu we used to buy and ferment ourselves."

The name of this Yushu Tofu Shop is clearly related to Li Yi.

The Li family has now fully entered Mingzhou, with businesses such as Qianjin Medical Clinic, Wuji Pharmacy, Nanshan Bamboo Paper, Liji Soap, Persimmon Liquor, Wannian Preserved Goods, and Shenhe Carriage Shop also coming, including Yusu Tofu Shop, which sells bean products.

Tofu shops are actually quite profitable, especially the Li family's tofu shop, which offers a wide variety of products, including not only tofu but also dried bean curd sticks, tofu puffs, dried bean curd sheets, vegetarian chicken, fermented bean curd, fermented black beans, natto, and more.

For ordinary people who lack protein, eating soy products is a good supplement. Various soy products are delicious, but the poor generally cannot afford them. This is a consumption between meat and vegetables.

When guests come, buying a few pieces of tofu can make a delicious dish.

For example, Wang's roasted tofu is considered a relatively expensive item in Mingzhou.

"How come the Grand General's Mansion of Youzhou can't even beat Gao Kaidao?" At another table, a group of military officers including Liu Heita, Su Dingfang, Li Cunxiao, Liu Xuanye, and Luo Dafu, after drinking a few cups of persimmon liquor, raised their voices and began to question Li Yuan, the Prince of Lujiang.

"That Grand General of Youzhou, Li Yuan, although also a member of the imperial clan, is far inferior to our Grand General. He spent several years in Shannan and couldn't even defeat the Shannan barbarians, while our Grand General swiftly pacified forty prefectures when he went to Shannan."

I heard that Li Yuan spent his time in Youzhou hunting and feasting. He took a fancy to the wife of a merchant named Tian from Pingzhou. He coveted her beauty, so he found a pretext to frame Tian for being a bandit, had him killed, seized all his wealth, and then took Tian's wife, Pei, as his concubine.

"Do you think someone like that can defeat Gao Kaidao? Although Gao Kaidao comes from a salt-producing family, he fought his way up from Douzigang during the Daye era. He crawled out of piles of corpses and is extremely cunning." These words were spoken by Captain Liu Wei.

Liu Shiche, the military advisor of the Prince's Palace, laughed and said, "I've heard that Wang Junkuo, the chief clerk of the Youzhou Grand General's Office, is also a fierce general. During the Battle of Luoyang, he captured Xuanyuan Pass with only thirteen horsemen, defeating an army of ten thousand. Later, the Emperor bestowed upon him a precious horse and even allowed him to ride out of the Golden Palace, and conferred upon him the title of Duke of Peng and Grand Pillar of State."
Wang Junkuo also started his rebellion in the Taihang Mountains at the end of the Daye era. How come he was able to defeat Gao Kaidao even after we reminded him?

"Who knows if they're really outmatched or just pretending?" Liu Heita sneered.

On this table,

Yun Dingxing flipped the roasted tofu in front of him and laughed, "Those martial artists really have no scruples."

Zhang Xuansu, the registrar, bluntly stated: "I think what they said isn't wrong. The Prince of Lujiang is indeed not good at military affairs, but the Duke of Peng is a battle-hardened general. The Minister of Works had already informed Gao Kaidao in advance that he was going to rebel, but instead of suppressing the rebellion in advance, they were fooled by a simple feigned surrender."
It makes no sense that they so easily relinquished control of Beiyan Prefecture and Tan Prefecture, which they had already taken over.

This Zhang Xuansu was once a Gentleman Attendant at the Palace Gate under Dou Jiande, but before he surrendered to Dou, he was just a Registrar of Households in Jingcheng County, a low-ranking official. Like Ma Zhou and Liu Xian, he came from a poor family and was originally from Puzhou. Because of his literary talent, he started as a clerk and later became the Registrar of Households in Jingcheng County, Hebei.

When Dou Jiande attacked Jingcheng, Zhang Xuansu led the people to resist. The city fell but he refused to surrender. Dou Jiande wanted to kill him, but thousands of people in the city pleaded for his life. Dou Jiande saw that he was very popular and released him, and even offered to appoint him as a censor. However, he refused. It was not until he heard that Yang Guang had been killed in Jiangdu that he accepted Dou Jiande's official position.

Zhang Xuansu came from a poor family and traveled extensively in his youth. Later, he worked his way up from the bottom to become an important official in the government. It can be said that he could tell at a glance that there was something wrong with Youzhou this time.

Grand Steward Li Yuan was incompetent, but Wang Junkuo was clearly very capable, yet he still allowed the situation to deteriorate to this extent, which suggests that he was harboring bandits to enhance his own power.

Zhang Xuansu could even understand Wang Junkuo's intentions; he probably wanted to take the opportunity to get rid of Li Yuan so that he could take over.

There's so much backstabbing and infighting in government offices; it's nothing new.

Wang Junkuo deserves to die for his behavior.

Consultant Qi Shanxing and others could, of course, guess some of the reason.
"Minister Sikong, only you can save the situation in Hebei now, so why hasn't the imperial court issued an edict appointing you as commander-in-chief?"

Li Yi smiled.

The imperial court had long been aware of Gao Kaidao's rebellion, and the news could be delivered from Youzhou to Chang'an by express courier in five days.

The imperial edict should arrive in ten days, both in person and out. However, the court delayed in responding, either because the matter was still under debate or because a decision had already been made, but not in Li Yi's name.

Li Yi was more inclined to believe that the imperial court had already made the decision to launch a campaign, but that he was not to be appointed as the commander-in-chief.

The fact that the emperor chose to go to the far-off place instead of using Li Yi, who was closer to him, only shows that the emperor did not want Li Yi to make any new contributions.

Alternatively, Wang Junkuo of Youzhou could organize a campaign, but given the current situation, it's unlikely that Wang Junkuo would be in charge, let alone that the Youzhou Grand General's Office would be the only one to carry out the encirclement and suppression.

After all, the flames of war have now spread to the four general administrations of You, Ying, Ding, and Dai.

Shuang Shilu, the general manager of Dingzhou, had just lost Yizhou and was not qualified to take command.

Li Yi was the most qualified person in Hebei, but since the emperor didn't want him, he had to transfer someone from the court.

The person more suitable to quell the rebellion than Li Yi was, of course, General Li Shimin, but if Emperor Li Yi didn't use him, how could he possibly use Li Shimin?

Most likely, either the Prince of Qi will be in command, with several generals assisting him, or Crown Prince Li Jiancheng will come in person.

If someone were to personally lead the expedition after completing the project, it would be to claim credit and enhance their own prestige.

Despite his current antics, Gao Kaidao is not a serious threat. He is not particularly strong to begin with, and even with the support of the Turks, his power will not expand significantly in the short term.

As for the Turks, as long as the important towns of You, Bing, Dai, and Ding are not lost, the Turks can only plunder and harass at most, and it will be difficult for them to penetrate deep into the heart of Hebei. Otherwise, they risk being trapped and beaten.

Unless Jieli were truly reckless and led two or three hundred thousand Turkic cavalry to invade—which is unlikely at this stage—given the vast expanse of the Turkic steppe, two or three hundred thousand cavalry would typically have to invade in several routes, not concentrate in one place.
To concentrate forces in one place, their mobilization and preparation time was even longer than that of the Tang army in the Central Plains, and their mobilization efficiency was also slower.

Moreover, if the Turks were to launch a full-scale invasion, it would be easier to do so from the east and west banks of the Yellow River at this stage.

"Let's wait for the imperial decree. I believe the court's decision will come soon," Li Yi said calmly as he ate his grilled tofu.

Dou Jiande has been defeated, Luo Yi has entered the court, and Gao Kaidao is just a third-rate figure in Hebei. He can't cause much trouble.

"But can we do nothing? Gao Kaidao has led the Turks to rampage everywhere, and countless people are suffering!" Ma Zhou said anxiously.

Yun Dingxing answered for Li Yi, "The Minister of Works is merely the Grand General of Mingzhou, holding the authority to govern the military affairs of the three prefectures of Ming, Xing, and Zhao. If the rebels bring the Turks into our Mingzhou territory, we will naturally engage them in battle and annihilate them."

But they're far away now, so we can only wait for orders.

Li Yi is no longer the Pacification Commissioner of Hebei Province, nor the Left Vice Minister of Shandong Province; he has no right to use troops beyond the border.

Even sending troops to Youzhou for support was not an option.

Without an order from the Ministry of War, mobilizing more than twenty soldiers across the border is a capital offense.

Even if a rebellion occurs and needs to be suppressed, troops can only be deployed to quell the unrest within the jurisdiction first.

With rebellions breaking out in the three general administrations of Youzhou, Dingzhou, and Yingzhou, Li Yi cannot even assemble troops in advance, let alone send them out to fight.

"So we're just going to watch like this?"

“Every family has its rules, and every country has its laws. We must act according to the rules and regulations, otherwise things will fall apart,” Yun Dingxing said. He didn’t take Gao Kaidao’s rebellion too seriously; he was just a fool who didn’t know his own mortality.

The world was about to be unified, yet you surrendered and then rebelled again.

As for the Turks, they were merely taking advantage of the chaos to plunder and loot.

During this team-building meal at the fried tofu restaurant, the officials and subordinates of the Wu'an King's shogunate ate and chatted, and also uttered some complaints.

Li Yi ate to his heart's content. When he returned to the Grand Steward's mansion, he brewed a pot of tea and summoned his two retainers, Song Yi and Chen Lingjiao.

"Who among you is willing to go to the camp of the Little Khan Tuli north of Yanshan?"

The two men have been following Li Yi for the past few years, commanding the family soldiers and serving as his personal guards. They are extremely loyal and now hold the position of Commander of the Wu'an Kingdom, equivalent to a seventh-rank official.

Upon hearing this, both of them stood up abruptly, vying to go.

"Now, the Gao Kaidao rebellion in the north has also attracted 10,000 Turkic cavalry to raid. The journey there is not safe. It is inconvenient to exit the Great Wall through Juyong Pass. We have to go through the northern pass of Tanzhou, pass through the territory of the Xi tribe, and head to the Tuli Yazhang. This road is hundreds of miles of mountain road and is not easy to travel. Moreover, I have heard that some Xi tribes have also allied with the Gao Kaidao, which is also dangerous."

He poured each of them a cup of hot tea.

Song Yi glanced at Chen Lingjiao and said, "Old Lu is from the Jianghuai region and is good at swimming. He's not used to the northern frontier. I'll go instead. I'm a northerner, and I ride horses better than Old Lu. I won't stand out in the frontier."

"You will disguise yourself as a horse trader. I will arrange for you to have more personal guards and a few fellow traders who have traveled across the Turkic frontier to trade cattle and horses. Your task is to meet Tuli at the Khan's court; you don't need to worry about anything else."

Neither Song Yi nor Chen Lingjiao asked Li Yi why he sent someone to see Tuli Xiao Khan at this time.

(End of this chapter)