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

Chapter 509 Harboring Hidden Intentions
Youzhou, Jicheng.

It is bordered by the Taihang Mountains to the west and the continuous Yanshan Mountains to the north, facing the vast North China Plain.

Whether traveling south along the eastern foothills of the Taihang Mountains or through the Yanshan Pass, Jicheng stands in the way of those who cannot pass.

From the northwest, one can connect with the Turkic peoples beyond the Great Wall via Juyongguan and Badaling, and from the northeast, one can reach the Songliao Plain via Gubeikou.

This is a remote and important border town, far from the political center of the imperial court.

The bitterly cold land three thousand miles north of Ji, Prince Li Yuan of Lujiang felt that he was here to suffer as the Grand Governor of Youzhou, as it was far worse than the Shannan region where he had previously lived.

Traveling north to Youshuo City, the desolate wilderness is fraught with danger.

Years have passed and we have not heard from each other; the moon shines over the mountains and passes of Han lands no longer.

Li Yuan sat in the backyard of the Grand Steward's mansion, listening to Pei Shi, whom he had snatched from Tian Mao, a merchant from Pingzhou, playing the pipa.

The borderlands are extremely cold and harsh. Youzhou is known as an important town, but everything there is rough and simple. The Grand General's Mansion is neither exquisite nor comfortable.

Unfortunately, upon arriving in Youzhou, he encountered Gao Kaidao's rebellion, which also led to an invasion by the Turks. Li Yuan enjoyed playing polo, hunting, and singing and dancing, but he disliked and was not good at fighting.

After the Youzhou army was ambushed and defeated by the rebels in Jizhou, Li Yuan dared not even mention fighting again.

"Your Majesty, Wang Shen requests an audience," a guard reported.

Li Yuan tapped her fingers on her leg, somewhat impatiently saying, "Wang Shen is asking for troops again. Troops, troops, all he knows is to send troops. Can he defeat Gao Kaidao?"

How many soldiers and how much food does Youzhou have left to fight? The truly capable troops in Youzhou are mostly Luo Yi's former subordinates and the Mohe Tudiqi people. But do these people even want to fight?

The imperial court dispatched a third-rank general to each of the two prefectures of You and Ji, each leading three thousand infantry and cavalry to garrison them. One was the emperor's cousin, Dugu Che, and the other was Lu Shijun, an old acquaintance of the emperor from the Lu clan of Fanyang. However, the two were ambushed in Ji Prefecture and suffered heavy losses. Now they dare not send troops again and have very few soldiers left.

The Youfu government has newly established fourteen prefectures with military units, but many of them are new recruits.

"Wang Sima said that Prince Wu'an defeated Gao Kaidao in Dingzhou, and Gao Kaidao has already fled beyond the Great Wall."

"what?"

Li Yuan was stunned, almost unable to believe her ears.

Not long ago, he heard from his newlywed son-in-law, Duke Peng Guo, Wang Junkuo, that Li Yi had not made any moves in Mingzhou. How long has it been?
He had already fled to Dingzhou, and had defeated Gao Kaidao, driving him to the borderlands.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible. It must be that scoundrel Wang Shen trying to trick me into sending troops. Li Yi doesn't have as many troops as I do, how could he possibly have that kind of ability?"

“I won’t see her,” Li Yuan waved her hand and continued listening to the pipa. This Pei woman, although she was once the wife of a merchant, was still a powerful local clan in Pingzhou. Tian Mao, as an illegitimate son of the family, was responsible for managing the Tian family’s businesses. The Pei woman he married was also an illegitimate daughter of the Pei family of Hedong.
But as a daughter of a prestigious family, she was proficient in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

His pipa playing skills are truly remarkable.

In this bitterly cold land of Youyan, this is the only way to find joy amidst hardship.

Before the pipa piece was even finished...

Wang Shen barged in.

"Does Your Majesty still have the leisure to listen to music here?"

Thirty-six-year-old Li Yuan looked at the furious Wang Shen but did not retaliate. This Wang Sima was also of extraordinary background. He was an old friend of the emperor, from the Wang clan of Taiyuan, and was also the brother-in-law of the Princess of Datong.

"Wang Sima, please sit down."

"Does Your Majesty know that the Prince of Wu'an has already defeated Gao Kaidao and recovered the two prefectures of Yi and Ding?"

"Oh, is that so? Where did you hear about this, Sima? This is too outrageous! Where did this rumor come from? I heard a few days ago that Gao Kaidao had already entered Zhao Prefecture and was about to reach Xing Prefecture." Li Yuan stood up to greet him with a smile.

Wang Shen ignored Li Yuan's words, "Your Majesty, Gao Kaidao has suffered a great defeat and fled to Weizhou via Feihu Pass. Prince Wu'an has recaptured Yiding."

We in Youzhou cannot stand idly by!

Previously, Dugu Che and Lu Shirui underestimated the enemy and fell into an ambush, suffering heavy losses. Gao Kaidao led the Turks into the fray, and Chief Secretary Wang insisted on temporarily avoiding direct confrontation and defending the city without fighting, which I can understand.

But now the situation has changed.
Gao Kaidao suffered a major defeat, and the main Turkic force that had entered Hebei had already fled.

We'd better seize this opportunity.

"Seize the opportunity, what opportunity?" Li Yuan asked.

Wang Shen glared at them, his eyes wide with anger. "Of course, we should immediately send troops to seize Juyong Pass, block the Great Wall passage, and trap and beat the Turkic army and rebels still in Hebei."

Li Yuan, dressed in a magnificent robe with wide sleeves, simply scratched her head. "Gao Kaidao really lost?"

Seeing that Wang Shen was about to get angry, Li Yuan smiled and comforted him, "Let's invite the Duke of Peng, the Duke of Shi, and Lu Shirui to come and discuss this."

“Wang Sima, there’s no rush. Let’s listen to the pipa piece first.”

···
All the key officials of the Youzhou Grand General's Office gathered in the council hall.

Li Yuan, the Grand General of Youzhou and Prince of Lujiang, is nominally the top official of Youzhou. After adjustments, he now holds the military power over seven prefectures: You, Yan, Bei Yan, Tan, Ji, Ping, and Ying. However, the four prefectures of Bei Yan, Tan, Ji, and Ping are still in the hands of the rebels.

Yanzhou was originally established by Tudiji, the leader of the Mohe tribe who had submitted to the Central Plains court during the Sui Dynasty. He was relocated to Taogu Mountain north of Youzhou and Yanzhou was established there, with its capital in Liaoxi.

This Yan Prefecture was actually established to settle the Mohe tribe, similar to a prefecture for refugees, using borrowed land as its administrative center.

If we don't count Yanzhou, the current Youzhou Grand General Administration only has Youzhou and Yingzhou left. However, Yingzhou is still outside the pass, hundreds of miles away.

Basically, it could be said that only one state remained. Li Yuan sat there, feeling a bit awkward. The Grand Steward's office didn't even govern as many states as the lower-level Steward's offices, which at least usually governed two or three states.

He coughed twice.

"Duke Peng, Wang Sima said that the Prince of Wu'an has recovered Yiding. Do you know if this news is true or false?"

Wang Junkuo, dressed in a purple robe and with a jade belt around his waist, still exuded an air of unruly arrogance even while sitting there. Orphaned and impoverished since childhood, he was of questionable character and frequently stole. As an adult, he made a living by trading horses, becoming a menace to the village. Towards the end of the Daye era, he gathered a thousand men and plundered everywhere, ficklely changing his allegiance in the Taihang Mountains, switching between various factions.

Yet, at less than thirty years old, he has already risen to the high positions of Grand Pillar of State of the Tang Dynasty, Duke of Peng, General of the Right Martial Guard, and Chief Administrator of the Youzhou Grand General Administration.

He also arranged a marriage between his children and Li Yuan's children, thus securing a marriage between his son and the daughter of the Prince of Lujiang.

It must be said that chaotic times sometimes do provide rare opportunities for some people.

Just like the recent rebellion in Ko Kheda,
Wang Junkuo, who was actually in charge of the affairs of the Grand General's Office, remained inactive. Dugu Che and Lu Shirui advocated for war. He clearly saw that Xie Ling was feigning surrender, but he pretended not to know and let Lu Shirui and the other lead their troops to meet him. As a result, the two were ambushed and suffered a great defeat, with almost all of their six thousand men being wiped out.

Lu Shirui and Dugu Che, the two generals dispatched by the imperial court to Youzhou and Jizhou but not directly under the command of the General Administration Office, lost their voice in Youzhou without the six thousand central troops. Their great defeat also made no one in Youzhou dare to easily go to war again.

Wang Junkuo wasn't idle during this time. Under the guise of preparing for war, he was also accelerating the integration of various troops in Youzhou and promoting many of Luo Yi's former subordinates who had defected to him.

Those who listen to him are promoted, while those who refuse to submit to him are reassigned to menial positions.

He is also building a direct elite infantry and cavalry force of 8,000 men, including 3,000 Youzhou cavalry and 5,000 elite armored infantry.

Gao Kaidao led the Turks to attack and plunder cities and territories everywhere, but Wang Junkuo only guarded the cities of Youzhou and let them bypass Youzhou, penetrating deep into Yidingheng in the west and deep into Moyingcang in the east.

Some suggested that while Gao Kaidao was advancing south, their Youzhou army should attack Gao Kaidao's stronghold, Yuyang.

However, all of these suggestions were rejected by Wang Junkuo.

His reasoning was that the rebels had brought in the Turks, whose forces were at their peak and whose strength was overwhelming, making a direct confrontation impossible. He argued that they should first defend the city, hold their ground, and await reinforcements. Once the rebels had penetrated deeper and their forces were dispersed, they could then join forces with the imperial reinforcements from the north and south to launch a pincer attack and annihilate the enemy in one fell swoop.

What he said makes sense.

In addition, many of Luo Yi's former generals from Youzhou, as well as foreign generals like Tu Diji, and those like Lu Shirui who had already suffered defeats, were unwilling to fight Gao Kaidao head-on.

Thus, for the past two months, Gao Kaidao has made great strides forward, while Youzhou has remained as still as a dead dog.

And now,
Li Yi has arrived! Li Yi has won a great victory!
Many generals in Youzhou were eager to seize the opportunity to claim credit.

"Your Majesty, there's no mistake. Wu'an King's vanguard has already crossed the Lai River on the border of Youyi and is heading north along the Western Mountains towards Juyong Pass." Lu Shirui said somewhat urgently, "Please give the order, Your Majesty, to immediately send troops to Juyong Pass to join forces and retake it. Let's trap them and annihilate all those Turkic wolves who haven't escaped yet!"

He had suffered a crushing defeat and now desperately wanted to atone for his mistakes.

Even if he was the emperor's old friend, he was still guilty of the crime of losing almost all of his three thousand soldiers last time.

Lu Shirui and Wang Shen both advocated sending troops immediately, even wanting to seize Juyong Pass before the Mingzhou troops arrived, and also advocated a full-scale attack to annihilate the Turkic army and rebels within Youzhou.

We must clean house ourselves and prevent the Mingzhou troops from coming.

Wang Junkuo raised his eyelids and looked at their excited expressions, as if they really had a drowning dog to beat.

He glanced at Tudiji again; the old man seemed to be dozing off.

Wang Junkuo, however, knew that this old fellow was quite capable. He was originally the leader of the Sumo Mohe tribe within the Liaodong Mohe people. Back in the Kaihuang era, the Mohe tribes had fought against Goguryeo and were unsuccessful.

Tudiqi and his brother Manduo led their eight tribes—Jueji, Hucilai, Kutushi, Yuejimeng, Yueyu, Buhulai, Poxi, and Bubukuoli—with several thousand people, from the northwest of Fuyu City southward to request submission to the Sui Dynasty. Emperor Wen of Sui settled them in Yingzhou.

That year was when Emperor Wen of Sui sent 300,000 troops to attack Goguryeo. The Tudiji brothers thought that they had found a powerful ally and could not bear the oppression after the defeat. After being persuaded by the Sui envoy, they immediately went to Yingzhou.

Who would have thought that the Sui army of 300,000 men, advancing by land and sea, would encounter torrential rain on land, suffering from acclimatization problems, resulting in the deaths of many soldiers and the sinking of many ships in a storm on the sea. They didn't even see the Goguryeo people before almost the entire army of 300,000 was wiped out.

They had originally hoped to follow the Sui army back to Liaodong and even become the new rulers of the Fuyu region, but Emperor Wen of Sui never mentioned the conquest of Liaodong again, and they had to swallow the bitter pill of the annihilation of 300,000 men. The Tudiji brothers could only stay in Yingzhou.

During the Daye era, Manduo passed away, and Tudiji succeeded his elder brother as the new leader, holding the official title of Grand Master of the Palace. Emperor Yang of Sui launched several campaigns against Liaodong, and Tudiji led his tribe to fight bravely in each battle. Unfortunately, Yang Guang did not win, and Tudiji was unable to return to his hometown.

Emperor Yang of Sui established Liaoxi Commandery in western Liaoning, appointing Tudiji as the governor of Liaoxi and the marquis of Fuyu, allowing them to settle in western Liaoning. Tudiji and his brothers had been utterly loyal to the Sui Dynasty for years, not only participating in the Sui's campaigns against Goguryeo but also leading their troops to defend Yanmen Pass. Later, they accompanied the emperor to Jiangdu. After Yang Guang was assassinated in Jiangdu, Tudiji led his troops in a desperate escape, fighting against Li Mi, Dou Jiande, and Wang Xuba, finally managing to reach Luo Yi in Youzhou.

He was sent to Chang'an to pay tribute and was appointed as the governor of Yanzhou. When the Tang army attacked Dou Jiande, Tudiji led his troops from Liaoxi to Hebei to participate in the battle. Although he did not make any great contributions, his loyalty was commendable. The emperor issued an edict to set up Liaoxi County and Yanzhou in a piece of land north of Youzhou City and moved his tribe to Guannei.

He was granted the title of Duke of Shiguo.

The eight tribes of Mohe that submitted to the Sui Dynasty back then numbered several thousand, but now they number over ten thousand households. Tudiqi also has a cavalry force of three thousand Mohe men, and can even muster ten thousand men in critical moments.

Wang Junkuo had been trying to win over this old fellow, and even considered taking a woman from the Tudiqi tribe as a concubine, all because he had his eye on the three thousand elite Mohe cavalrymen.

Unfortunately, the old man remained lukewarm towards his attempts to win him over.

"Your Majesty,"

Wang Junkuo withdrew his gaze from Tu Diji's face. "What Chief Secretary Wang and General Lu said makes a lot of sense. King Wu'an has displayed great power; our Youzhou cannot lag behind."
I think we should appoint General Lu as the commander-in-chief, Duke Shi as the deputy commander-in-chief, and Wang Sima as the chief clerk. We should mobilize three thousand soldiers from Youzhou, plus three thousand Mohe cavalry from Yanzhou, and with these six thousand men, we can launch a swift attack, seize Juyong Pass, block the Great Wall passage, and wipe out the Turkic invaders in one fell swoop.”

Suddenly, they looked over.

"Where is General Wang? Aren't you going to personally lead us?"

Wang Junkuo smiled slightly, "Gao Kaidao has fled beyond the Great Wall. We should strike while the iron is hot and finish him off. We should launch a full-scale attack. You go and take Juyong Pass to block their retreat. I will lead the troops to attack Yuyang and take Gao Kaidao's stronghold."

(End of this chapter)