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

Chapter 514 A Plea for Your Favor in the Face of National Crisis

After the three war drums sounded,
The military camp gates were wide open, and all the generals gathered in the military council hall.

Li Yi specially changed into a set of silk armor before coming. The gilded silk armor was bright and gorgeous. The armor plates were made of mulberry bark paper as the core, which was repeatedly soaked in tung oil to form a leather-like hardness. The outer layer of raw silk was extremely lightweight.

The shoulder guards are decorated with gilded tiger heads, and the large breastplate is engraved with a lion-like beast with wide-open eyes. The hard armor plates hidden under the six layers of silk lining rise and fall slightly with his breathing.

He stepped into the hall, his hand on his sword.
All the generals stood up to greet him.

Left civil, right military

All the members of the Wu'an King's Office and the Dingzhou Grand General's Office in Dingzhou came.

"The Turkic Khaganate, Jieli, launched a large-scale invasion of Hedong. The King of Dingxiang had already died in Shuozhou, and three thousand soldiers and twenty thousand troops were killed in battle."

I plan to lead my troops through the Flying Fox Pass to launch a surprise attack on Weizhou, then seize the old stronghold of Beiyanzhou via the Gaokai Road, bypassing the Jundu Pass Great Wall fortress.

finished,

He gestured with his right hand in the air, indicating that everyone should take their seats.

The news of the defeat at Hedong has just been delivered to the generals.

Everyone was quite surprised.

Zhang Liang, the Grand General's Sima, looked around and then stood up.

"Minister, I am also furious about the Turkic invasion, and I hate even more that I failed to annihilate the rebel Gao Kaidao in Dingzhou last time."

However, if Sikong wants to immediately advance west of the Taihang Mountains, it will be troublesome, as we lack the supplies to support this operation.

Li Yi frowned slightly.
He was well aware of Dingzhou's resources. After the merger of Ming and Dingzhou, it now governed six prefectures: Ming, Xing, Zhao, Heng, and Hengyi. After abolishing and merging many improperly established prefectures, these six prefectures were roughly the territory of the six commanderies of the Sui Dynasty's Daye era: Shanggu Commandery, Boling Commandery, Hengshan Commandery, Zhao Commandery, Xiangguo Commandery, and Wu'an Commandery.

It largely overlaps with the six prefectures, except for a few counties in the southeast of Boling Prefecture, which is now a separate prefecture called Shenzhou.

The territory was vast, spanning eight hundred li from north to south.

However, the three prefectures of Hengdingyi had already been looted by the Turks and rebels, leaving them completely devastated. Li Yi had to resort to issuing bonds and using both soft and hard tactics to borrow and buy grain from powerful local families.
They also introduced a grain-based system for distributing grain.
But they were still struggling to make ends meet.

We had to cut the quota.

"Master, March and April are the lean months of spring, when food is scarce. Especially now, with Yue Feihu Xing sending troops to Weizhou, a small number of soldiers is definitely not an option, and a small amount of food is even worse."

The Grand General's office simply cannot provide enough grain to supply the army.

Zhang Liang's words were undoubtedly a bucket of cold water poured over his head.

But this is also true. Now, in the six prefectures of Dingfu, especially the three northern prefectures, there are hungry mouths everywhere waiting for food supplies.

This battle will still require crossing the Taihang Mountains.

The Feihu Pass is not an easy route. Just the 120 li (approximately 60 kilometers) across the Hengling Gorge is difficult to traverse, let alone transporting supplies.

Within Weizhou, it was also difficult to obtain food.

Even if we take over Beiyan Prefecture, we still won't be able to find food locally and will have to transport it from Shandong.

When the army crossed the Taihang Mountains to fight, the people and horses had to eat and feed themselves. Countless civilians also had to transport the grain and fodder, which required more people and horses to eat and feed themselves. The cost of the civilians and the cattle and horses may have been more than that of the soldiers on the front line.

An army marches on its stomach; how can you fight a war without supplies?

The emperor has plenty of hungry soldiers.

At this moment, Li Keshi, the chief secretary of the Prince's Palace, also stood up and spoke up, "Although Gao Kaidao sent troops to Mayi to help the Turks attack the Prince of Dingxiang, he is not stupid. He escaped back through Feihu Road last time. How could he not be on guard?"
He must have sent troops to block the western end of the Flying Fox Pass.

"Given the strategic importance of Feihu Pass, where one man can hold off ten thousand, we can be blocked without a large army."

The other generals also expressed their opinions.

Li Xuantong, Qin Wutong, Wang Xingmin, Xue Zhong, and Liu Jun, these five third-rank generals of the Central Army, all supported Li Yi's expedition to Shanxi. As soldiers, they had to consider logistics and supplies, but it was not their top priority. They were concerned about the large-scale invasion of the neighboring region by the Turks, and they had a responsibility to provide assistance.

"I believe we should take Juyong Pass directly. This would make the transport of supplies and the dispatch of troops much more convenient, faster, and safer," Li Xuantong suggested.

Dugu Kaiyuan said, “I think it is necessary to rescue Hedong, but we cannot act alone. The Youzhou Grand General Administration also has an inescapable responsibility. If they had not failed to block Juyong Pass, Gao Kaidao would not have dared to go to Dingxiang to assist the Turks.”

"If we are to send troops to Hedong, the Grand General's Office of Youzhou must also send troops first. Wang Junkuo has just seized the three prefectures of Tan, Ji, and Ping, and I heard that he also seized a lot of money and grain."

The provisions for the expedition to Shanxi would then have to be supplied by the Grand General's Office of Youzhou.

Dugu Kaiyuan did not serve as the governor of Dingzhou for long before he was demoted to the governor of Hengzhou for losing the city. He held a grudge and believed that this was because Wang Junkuo of Youzhou had remained inactive and refused to come to the rescue.

Now they're standing up and shouting, "The soldiers from Youzhou and Dingzhou must come together, and the grain must all come from them!"

"Yes, if it weren't for Youzhou blocking our way, we would have taken Juyong Pass long ago, and none of this would have happened. Youzhou would have to send troops and supplies!"

A group of officials, especially military officers, particularly those who had previously controlled the three prefectures of Heng, harbored deep resentment towards the Grand General's Office of Youzhou.

The treasury was empty.

If we are to send troops, the food problem must indeed be addressed as a priority.

Asking Youzhou to provide grain is not a bad idea. However, Wang Junkuo is cunning and selfish, and may not be willing to provide grain. Yang Gongdao, the chief secretary of the Grand General's Office, is the younger brother of Yang Gongren. He was originally the governor of Liangzhou and concurrently served as the Grand Councilor. At the end of last year, he was recalled to the court and promoted to Grand Secretary and concurrently Minister of Personnel, while still nominally serving as the governor of Liangzhou.

Yang Gongdao also had a younger brother named Yang Shidao, who was the emperor's son-in-law and the consort of Princess Guiyang. He was originally the governor of Liangzhou, but was recalled to the court at the end of the year to serve as the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and concurrently the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

His two brothers were quite special, whether they served as the chief administrators of Ling and Liang in the Northwest or jointly managed the Ministry of Personnel in the court, especially since they came from the Guanwang branch of the Hongnong Yang clan.

Yang Gongdao's partnership with Li Yi was somewhat influenced by the emperor's special instructions, as he, like Li Yi, had also served as the director of the palace gardens.

Yang Gongdao wasn't very interested in fighting, especially now that they had no food or money and had to risk crossing the Feihu Pass to fight in the Taihang Mountains. He became even less interested.

"Sikong,
Now, the Turkic Khaganate, Jieli, has launched a large-scale invasion of Hedong, with an army of 100,000 pouring into Daibei. Weizhou, occupied by Gao Kaidao, is inevitably also within the sphere of influence of the Turks.
We are currently struggling to secure food supplies, so it would be unwise to rashly send troops to Shanxi.

"The six prefectures under Dingfu, especially the three northern prefectures, are not yet stable. If we encounter setbacks in Shanxi, and Gao Kaidao leads the Turks back to attack again, what will we do then?"

"What is Chief Secretary Yang's intention?"

Yang Gongdao stroked his beard and said, "We just need to guard the eastern entrance of Feihu Road, protect our own gates, defend against the Turks west of Taihang Mountain, and first stabilize the six prefectures. I believe that the court will definitely have a countermeasure for this Turkic invasion."

He's just like the saying, "Everyone sweeps the snow from their own doorstep, and doesn't care about the frost on other people's roofs."

No matter what the situation in Hedong was, it was a matter for the Hedong Circuit, the Bingzhou Grand General's Office, the Daizhou Grand General's Office, and the Xizhou Grand General's Office.
What is the relationship between Hebei Circuit and their Dingzhou Grand General Administration?
"Minister, it's not that we're standing by and doing nothing, it's just that our treasury is empty. How can we possibly send troops?"

Li Yi didn't speak.

Yang Gongdao's words certainly make sense. Many officials share this view: why meddle in other people's business? Doing it well might not bring any reward, but doing it poorly will only cause trouble.

The more you do, the more mistakes you make; the less you do, the fewer mistakes you make.

In Li Yi's opinion, Yang Gongdao, the chief secretary of the Grand Steward's Office, was actually a bit lacking in ability. Although he came from a prestigious family, he was far inferior to Yang Gongren, and even less capable than Yang Shidao, who at least knew how to write poetry.

As for Yang Gongdao, he was really only suited to be a palace garden supervisor, managing the gardeners and florists.

But who could blame him when he came from the Hongnong Yang clan, and his third daughter even married Li Shimin as a concubine? At the end of the Daye era, Yang Gongdao encountered Yang Xuangan's rebellion and attacked Luoyang. At that time, Yang Gongdao, a noble scion, along with more than forty sons of ministers, including Zheng Yan (son of Zheng Shanguo), Yu Rou (son of Yu Shiji), Lai Yuan (son of Lai Hu'er), Han Shi'e (son of Han Qinhu), and Pei Shuang (son of Pei Yun), fled Luoyang to join Yang Xuangan.

Yang Xuangan also granted them important positions.

Unexpectedly, although Yang Xuangan was known as the Little Conqueror, he was far inferior to his father Yang Su. Even with the assistance of people like Li Mi, and by launching a rebellion while Yang Guang was personally leading an expedition to Liaodong, he still failed.

Yang Gongdao and Li Mi fled, but his wife and daughters were all taken into the inner palace. Later, when Li Yuan and Li Shimin entered Chang'an, the women in the palace naturally all went to Li Yuan and Li Shimin.

Yang Gongdao's third daughter was given to Li Shimin.

Later, when Yang Gongdao returned to Chang'an with his brother Yang Gongren and others, he suddenly became Li Shimin's father-in-law.

After going through many twists and turns, he has now become the Chief Secretary of the Grand Steward's Office.

Even after becoming the Chief Secretary of the Grand Steward's Office and rising to the rank of Third Grade, he still revealed a petty and narrow-minded nature, lacking any sense of grandeur.

His talent for choosing Yang Xuangan when he was young is evident.

I'm not young anymore, and I still lack vision.

If all the regional officials of the Tang Dynasty were like Yang Gongdao, how could they guard the borders and deal with the Turks?

If they all just guard their own little plot of land, wouldn't the Turks beat them senseless?

The last rebellion of Gao Kaidao failed because Wang Junkuo and Lu Shijun of the Youzhou Grand General's Office had their own ulterior motives and were too selfish, which led to the rebellion starting strong but ending weakly and failing to achieve its goal in one fell swoop.

Not only did Gao Kaidao escape, but he also caused trouble for Li Da'en.

Li Yi's gaze swept over the crowd.

He said loudly, "If we run out of food, we'll find a way to get food supplies."

If the rebels block the Flying Fox Pass, then we'll open it up.

There are certainly difficulties, but we cannot be deterred by them. What is the current situation? Khagan Jieli has led 100,000 cavalry in a massive invasion, and the King of Dingxiang has just died in battle at Xincheng, Shuozhou.

The two traitors, Yuan Junzhang and Gao Kaidao, sided with the Turks, acting as their henchmen and attacking our people on behalf of a foreign race.

Right now, we are united in our hatred of the enemy, facing the common enemy head-on, and working together to overcome this national crisis.

Why bother with the divisions of Hedong Circuit and Hebei Circuit? Why differentiate between Daizhou General Administration, Youzhou General Administration, and Dingzhou General Administration?
"If the Turks attack, will they discriminate between people from Hedong and Hebei, or between those from the Daizhou General Administration and those from the Dingzhou General Administration?"

"I'll give you ten days to figure out how to solve the food problem. After ten days, I will personally lead 20,000 troops out of Feihu Road to attack Weizhou."

Chief Secretary Yang and Military Advisor Zhang, you two will be the grain transport commissioners for this expedition. Chief Secretary Yang will be mainly responsible for collecting grain, and Military Advisor Zhang will be responsible for transporting it.

I don't care whether you ask the Prince of Lujiang of the Youzhou Grand General's Office for grain, borrow from the powerful families within the Dingzhou Grand General's Office, or buy it from merchants at high prices.

I only look at the results, not the process.
You must prepare provisions for 20,000 men.

As soon as this word comes out,
Yang Gongdao was stunned for a moment. When he came to his senses, he felt his scalp tingling. He opened his mouth to complain, but under Li Yi's sharp gaze, he couldn't say a word.

Zhang Liang was used to Li Yi's way of doing things, so he didn't waste any words and reluctantly agreed.

(End of this chapter)