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

Chapter 534 Trying to Pick Up a Bargain

Gao Kaidao fled 130 li in one go.

They only stopped in Fanzhi County when their mounts could no longer run.

Although there were no Tang soldiers in pursuit, they were still as frightened as startled birds, living in constant fear.

Fanjian City,
The original Tang troops stationed there had long since followed Li Da'en beyond the Great Wall and never returned. After Liu Shirang entered Daizhou, he didn't even have time to attend to this place. The Turks entered Yanmen Pass, and Liu Shirang could only consolidate his forces to defend Yanmen City.

With no soldiers to defend it, officials and wealthy families fled one after another. The city was occupied and looted by the Turks, and became a temporary settlement for a Turkic tribe.

Gao opened the road into the city.
wolf.

After burying himself in a large meal, Gao Kaidao finally felt better.

"The Prince of Yan just led his army there two days ago, how come he's back now?" Jielifa of the Turkic Sijie tribe was very puzzled.

Gao Kaidao's eyes were lifeless.

After he had eaten and drunk his fill and was temporarily safe, he was finally able to calm down and reflect properly.

What went wrong?
Why did he send troops to guard the three passes of Taihang, which clearly blocked the three passes of Taihang, yet Li Yi and Wang Junkuo were able to break through them so easily and take over Weizhou and Beiyanzhou without lifting a finger?

Why was Pingxing Tunbao originally just a military settlement for soldiers stationed at Pingxing Pass, and a place for their families to live?
How come he suffered such a crushing defeat this time with 20,000 men?
Even though Tang Jun only mobilized less than 10,000 men this morning, he was already on the verge of a complete collapse.

He used to be a well-known figure in Hebei. Even if he wasn't as good as Dou Jiande or even Luo Yi, he should still be ranked third in Hebei.

They came out of mountains of knives and seas of fire, crawled out of piles of corpses.
But how come he suffered such a crushing defeat when facing Li Yi?

When he fought Li Da'en, was it easy for him not to win? Li Da'en was once a hero, and now he is a prince of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Da'en was a prince, and Li Yi was also a prince. He had even been a prince of the Tang Dynasty before. They were both princes and governors, so why was there such a big difference?

Sijibu Sijin was still asking him questions.
But Gao Kaidao was still lost in thought, unable to understand, unable to understand, unable to understand even if he racked his brains.

Li Yi didn't have three heads and six arms; he just had two shoulders and a head.

How could the Battle of Pingxing Tunbao have ended in such a crushing defeat?

"King Yan?"

Gao Kaidao turned his head and looked at the bearded man, Si Jielifa.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Sijie Jielifa. I must be going now."

"Prince Yan, what exactly happened?"

Gao Kaidao, considering that the other party had treated him to a hearty meal, said, "Last night I fought a fierce battle with the Tang army at Pingxing Village. This morning, Li Yi personally led a large army in a surprise attack, and we suffered a great defeat. Almost the entire army was wiped out."

I must go to Yanmen to see the Khan.

I advise Jieli to take precautions early, as Li Yi could attack at any time.

The town of Fanzhi might not be able to stop Li Yi.

Sijie Awen was greatly shocked.

"The Prince of Yan's more than 20,000 troops were all wiped out?"

Gao Kaidao sighed, "To be precise, it's 30,000 men."

He led 20,000 men to assist in the campaign against the Turks. From Shuozhou to Lanzhou, and then to Daizhou and Xinzhou, he not only plundered a lot of money and grain, but also recruited many young men to expand his army.

He hastily retreated from Xinzhou back to Weizhou with 30,000 men, 10,000 of whom were conscripted from Daibei during this period.

But today's crushing defeat is primarily the responsibility of these new recruits.

In last night's battle, many of these new recruits died filling the trenches. This morning, when the Tang army launched a surprise attack, these new recruits almost all collapsed at the first touch and turned to run away.

Not only did they fail to resist the Tang army, but their actions also scattered their own Hebei soldiers, hindering their formation and ultimately leading to the complete defeat of the Tang army.

If it weren't for those damned Daibei soldiers,

Perhaps he won't lose; at least he can still put up a fight.

Gao Kaidao asked Sijie Jielifa to lend him a horse. Sijie Awen looked troubled, so Gao Kaidao had his adopted sons pool together eight hundred taels of gold they carried and left their tired horses behind.

They exchanged a batch of horses with Xiang Sijie.

At this time, Gao Kaidao only had about eight hundred men left under his command, most of whom were his adopted sons.

Eight hundred taels of gold and over a thousand horses were exchanged for just over eight hundred horses, and those horses were all of average quality, not as good as Gao Kaidao's original horses.

But Gao Kaidao couldn't care less about that.

They rode their horses straight towards Yanmen.

Sijie Awen was left behind, lost in thought as he looked at the gold and fine horses.

"Was Gao Kaidao really wiped out completely?" his son asked.

"That's right. Look at Gao Kaidao's disheveled and terrified appearance. He has lost all fighting spirit, and all that's left in his eyes is fear."

It seems that Prince Li Yi of Wu'an is truly remarkable.

The Sijie tribe were not Turks; they were Tiele people, one of the fifteen Tiele tribes, and also belonged to the Uyghur confederation, one of the nine outer clans. Their tribe was located in the northern desert.

Last year, the grasslands were devastated by white snow, with the northern desert region being particularly affected.

Although the Sijie tribe was one of the fifteen Tiele tribes in the northern desert, it faced a severe white disaster and a survival crisis. When Khan Jieli summoned the tribes to invade the Tang Dynasty, the Sijie tribe did not hesitate to select the young and strong men of each tribe to go south.

After such a major disaster, survival is impossible without looting. Should they plunder neighboring tribes or raid the Central Plains? In reality, most people preferred raiding the Central Plains.

After all, they were in the northern desert. Although it was a long way to go south, they didn't have to worry about retaliation from the Central Plains after they finished looting. The Central Plains were currently in turmoil and were also prosperous.

If you raid neighboring tribes, they won't be able to survive either. They'll fight you to the death, and you won't get much in return.

The Sijie tribe sent a large number of people this time, specifically to rob them.

Crossing the vast desert, traversing the Yin Mountains, passing the Great Wall, and passing through Yanmen Pass, the journey was quite arduous. Once inside Yanmen Pass, they could finally start looting freely.

Sijie's troops seized the county towns of Fanzhi and Wutai, and plundered the surrounding villages, reaping considerable profits.

"These kings of the Han people in the Central Plains are all useless, one after another. What are the King of Dingxiang and the King of Yan? They are nothing but rubbish."

I don't think this so-called Prince Wu'an is that strong.

Previously, Weizhou was the territory of the Gao Kaidao, and the Great Khan Jieli had decreed that it should not be invaded. But now that it has been seized by the Tang people...

"Then can we go and rob them?" Sijie Sijin's son was a very burly young man, quite fierce. "No matter how capable Li Yi is, I heard he only has 20,000 men in Weizhou? Now he has annihilated Gao Kaidao's 30,000 men..."

It's probably a lose-lose situation for both sides, right?

If we send troops to attack now, wouldn't that be the perfect opportunity to wipe them out?
Then Weizhou will be ours. We can then go through Feihu Pass and raid Hebei. I heard that Song Xie and that other guy went to Hebei last time and looted a lot of good stuff.”

The young master Sijie didn't take the Tang generals of the Central Plains seriously at all.

All he saw was greed.

Si Jielifa should be more cautious, mainly because Gao Kaidao failed too quickly.

Although he didn't reveal many details, the fact that 30,000 people perished in one night and one morning was enough to make him wary.

Seeing his father hesitate, he said, "I am willing to lead a thousand men to Pingxing Pass to investigate in person. If there is an opportunity, I will send a fast horse to report back and ask my father to lead his troops to attack and seize Weizhou."

“Wusui, do not underestimate the enemy. Gao Kaidao led 30,000 men through here a few days ago, but only about 800 men escaped today, and their eyes are full of fear.”

“Father, we’re here to plunder the Central Plains. We can’t be timid. If we don’t seize the opportunity, other tribes will take over. They’ll eat all the meat, and we’ll only have soup left.”

Sijie Awen thought for a moment, "Alright, take three thousand men to check the Bottle-Shaped Pass, be careful."

If the Tang people and Gao Kaidao suffer heavy losses, we will take advantage of the situation. If Li Yi's casualties are not significant and the pass is well-defended, we will not launch a direct attack.

Anyway, Weizhou is a remote place with few people, money, or grain to plunder. We'll go with Khan Jieli to Taiyuan and Jinzhou to loot; those places have more people, money, livestock, and people.”

Sijie Wusui, however, thought her father was being too cautious. He had heard that Li Yi was only eighteen or nineteen years old. How could someone so young be anything special? It was just Han people praising him.

Bottle-shaped fortress,

The Yan army captured many more prisoners, and the Tang army also captured a considerable number.

"There are already more than 25,000 prisoners."

Li Yi looked at the statistics Ma Zhou had brought him and was somewhat surprised. "Didn't they say there were only 20,000 people in Gao Kaidao? How come the number keeps increasing with each arrest?"

Could it be that someone is arresting innocent people and taking credit for their crimes?

Li Yi's expression turned very serious.

Liu Shiche quickly explained, "Please rest assured, Minister, these have all been verified repeatedly. We have already checked them."

Gao Kaidao's attack involved not just 20,000 men, but a full 32,000.

Of these, over ten thousand were newly recruited soldiers he had conscripted in Daibei. Many of these soldiers were auxiliary troops for Gao Kaidao, helping to transport looted spoils, provisions, and equipment, and guarding the camps and horses for the main force.

Upon hearing this explanation, Li Yi's expression relaxed considerably.

"I see. If anyone dares to arrest innocent people and claim credit for their crimes, or even kill people and claim credit for their crimes, I will definitely punish them severely according to military law."

"Since more than 10,000 of them are able-bodied men who were just forcibly taken from various prefectures in the north, let's send them all back to their hometowns, give them some dry food and travel expenses, and let them go home."

Liu Shiche asked, "There are twelve thousand of these people. Although some died in battle and some escaped, there are definitely seven or eight thousand left. Should we release them all?"

"Let them go,"

"You could also stay and cultivate the land first."

Li Yi replied, “They are not Gao Kaidao’s former subordinates, but conscripted men who were kidnapped. They were originally citizens of the court, and now they should be rescued and released.”

Furthermore, we left nearly 20,000 of Gao Kaidao's men to cultivate the land, which is a sufficient number.

Even with a large number of people, there aren't enough farming tools and seeds available all at once. Besides, the soldiers also need food rations. If each person receives six dou of food per month, ten thousand people would receive six thousand shi per month. With a harvest only expected in four or five months, we would need to supply thirty thousand shi of food first. At this stage, it's not worthwhile.

Retaining around 20,000 militiamen will be sufficient.

This time, one hundred new military settlements will be established, with 500,000 mu of land to be reclaimed. Li Yi requested that they all be located within Weizhou territory east of Pingxing Pass. The area west of the pass is within Fanzhi County of Daizhou, even though this area within dozens of miles is currently under their control.

But Li Yi was unwilling to settle down and cultivate the land here, in case the enemy seized it, wouldn't all his efforts be in vain.

"Report!"

The scouts sent to Fanzhi County, 130 li to the west, to gather intelligence on the enemy brought back news.

"Reporting to the Minister of Works,"
Gao Kaidao had already passed Fanzhi County and was continuing towards Yanmen City.

The city of Fanzhi is occupied by the Tiele Sijie tribe. Early this morning, the Sijie tribe assembled about three thousand cavalry and is heading towards Pingxing Pass.

Heard this news,

Li Yi put down the folded statistics of battle results in his hand.

"Sijie tribe, only three thousand cavalry have come?" He stroked his chin and his short beard.

"Master Sikong, I think the Sijie tribe probably wants to test our strength. Gao Kaidao's 30,000 troops were just wiped out here. The Sijie tribe probably thinks we must have suffered heavy losses as well, and wants to take advantage of the situation," Liu Shiche said.

"Haha, maybe, but they're destined to be disappointed." Li Yi chuckled. "But since they're here, we should at least treat them well."

"Prince Bin, go and inform all the generals to come for a meeting immediately. Three thousand cavalry, once they arrive, they are not to leave." Li Yi's eyes flashed with murderous intent.

Does everyone want to take a bite? Let's see if they have such good teeth.

"I remember that Liu Heita and Su Dingfang had previously isolated and tightened the noose, ultimately trapping Gao Kaidao's 20,000 to 30,000 men inside, preventing them from escaping."
"Do you think we can also trap Sijie's three thousand cavalry this time?"

(End of this chapter)