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

Chapter 568 Empty City Strategy or Beauty Trap
North of Hengshan Mountain, in the city of Yingzhou.

In the sweltering heat of July, Yingzhou City on the banks of the Hun River was surprisingly cool.

Since Li Daoxuan was rescued from the clouds and returned, everything had been calm, but Li Yi felt that this was the calm before the storm.

Get up in the morning,

Order a plate of local specialty noodles, paired with tender smoked meat, and a bowl of mutton offal soup—it's absolutely delicious!

While we were having breakfast, Song Yi handed me a booklet.

"My lord, this is a copy of the official gazette sent by our family in Chang'an."

Although stationed on the frontier, he kept a close eye on the movements of the central government.

"The Tuyuhun invaded the three prefectures of Tao, Xu, and Die. Li Changqing, the governor of Minzhou, led an army to fight against them, and Chai Shao, the prefect of Qizhou, sent troops to assist. Together they defeated the Tuyuhun."

"When Chai Shao was fighting the Tuyuhun, he was surrounded. The Tuyuhun people occupied the high ground and shot arrows, which rained down. Chai Shao sent musicians to play the pipa and had two Hu women dance face to face."

The Hu people were astonished and stopped shooting arrows, gathering together to watch. Taking advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness, Chai Shao secretly sent elite cavalry to outflank the enemy and launch a surprise attack, resulting in a crushing defeat for the Tuyuhun army.

Looking at the news copied from Chang'an, Li Yi couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Is this a feint or a honey trap by Prince Consort Chai?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Heita clicked his tongue in praise, "I had only heard that Princess Pingyang was a heroine among women, a woman who was no less capable than men, and that she commanded an army of women. I never imagined that the Prince Consort of Pingyang would also have such abilities."

Could it be the military strategy taught in the princess's bedroom?

"Hahaha!"

Princess Pingyang, Li Sanniang, was admired by everyone, but her husband, Chai Shao, was not well-known at the beginning of the founding of the dynasty. He was even criticized for abandoning his wife in Guanzhong and going to Taiyuan to stay with his father-in-law when Li Yuan first raised his army.

Turn the page.

"Wang Gan, a local tyrant in Guazhou, killed Heba Xingwei and returned to Tang. The court changed Shazhou to Xishazhou and Changle, which was originally under the jurisdiction of Guazhou, became Shazhou. A general administration was established to govern the three prefectures of Guazhou, Xishazhou, and Suzhou. He Ruohuai Kuo, the former chief administrator of Shazhou, was appointed as the general administration."

"Deng Shizheng, a native of Fangling who had been transferred to Qianzhou, captured the prefect Li Jingang and led him into rebellion."

"Li Xiaogong, the Prince of Hejian and Grand Commander of Jingzhou, and Li Jing, the Deputy Grand Commander, along with Li Shiji, the Grand Commander of Qizhou, Ren Gui, the Grand Commander of Xuzhou, Li Daliang, the Grand Commander of Yuezhou, Lu Shangzu, the Grand Commander of Guangzhou, Zhou Faming, the Grand Commander of Huangzhou, and Zhang Zhenzhou, the Grand Commander of Shuzhou, are the seven Grand Commanders who will jointly suppress the rebellion of Zhang Shanxiang and Fu Gongshi."

Fu Gongshi dispatched Feng Huiliang and Chen Dangshi with a naval force of 30,000 to garrison Bowang Mountain and Dangtu, and Chen Zhengtong and Xu Shaozong with 30,000 infantry and cavalry to garrison Qinglin Mountain. They also established iron chains at Liangshan to cut off the river channel and built the Crescent Moon City, stretching for over ten miles, forming a pincer movement to block the Tang army.

Li Xiaogong's army was blocked from advancing.

···
After breakfast, I had also finished reading the latest copy of the official gazette; it was still a turbulent time.

Fortunately, on the main battlefield in Hedong, they withstood the attack of Jieli's army, and Jieli retreated. On the Longyou battlefield, the attack of the Tuyuhun people was also repelled by Li Changqing and Chai Shao.

On the contrary, the rebellions of Zhang Shan'an in Jiangxi and Fu Gongshi in Jiangdong have become deadlocked, and the war has not made much progress.

There were also rebellions and uprisings everywhere.

Li Yin could imagine how exhausted Li Yuan must have been, sitting in the Taiji Hall facing all of this.

But this still cannot change the fact that Li Yuan was making a grave mistake.

After breakfast,
Li Yi inspected the military camp.
Li Daoxuan was training diligently in the camp, shirtless. His injuries had not yet healed, especially the long wound on his left cheek. After being stitched up, it looked like a centipede crawling on it, adding a touch of ferocity to the otherwise handsome prince.

More than 4,000 Youzhou cavalry are temporarily stationed in Yingzhou and are also actively training.

Everyone was preparing to deal with the Turkic army that could attack at any time.

"Your injury hasn't healed yet; you should rest more."

Li Daoxuan drew back his bow and fired arrow after arrow at the target a hundred paces away, treating the target as if it were Wang Junkuo and shooting at it with all his might.

"If we can't avenge this humiliation, how can we have the face to recuperate?"

Li Yi pulled him to sit under the shade of a tree. "A gentleman takes revenge even after ten years. You're only nineteen; you have plenty of opportunities."

"I knew you probably hadn't had breakfast yet, so I brought it for you. Eat it now."

Li Daoxuan put down his bow, ignoring the sweat covering his body, and opened the food box to start eating.

"Haven't the Turks arrived yet?"

"Yuan Junzhang and Bu Lishe in Yunzhong City have not made any moves, and no troops have left the city. The scouts have been keeping an eye on things, perhaps they are waiting for Jieli to send troops."

"So timid?" Li Daoxuan was surprised.

Li Yi could understand them. After all, the battle at Yunzhong City was supposed to be a great victory, annihilating five thousand Youzhou light cavalry, and possibly even annihilating Wang Junkuo's more than ten thousand Youzhou soldiers as well.

In the end, however, the result was that he himself lost more than 3,000 men, but in exchange for killing 800 enemies.

Such an outcome requires caution from everyone.

"However, there is some activity in Mayi."

"Mayi, the one stationed in Mayi is Gao Manzheng, would he dare to attack Yingzhou?"

Li Yi chuckled, "On the contrary, Gao Manzheng wants to surrender Mayi City."

"what?"

Li Daoxuan was so surprised that he forgot to eat breakfast, and then he was extremely excited, "If this is true, that's wonderful!"

He had no idea that the imperial court had already made peace with the Turks and ceased hostilities.

Li Yi wouldn't actually miss such a good opportunity just because of a sudden peace agreement. "Could it be a trap?"

Li Yi shook his head, "The people and soldiers of Mayi are not willing to submit to the rule of the foreign Turks, especially now that the Central Plains are about to be unified."
Currently, Mayi is ostensibly under the command of Yuan Junzhang, a former subordinate of Liu Heita. However, Yuan Junzhang is merely a lackey of the Turks. Although he holds the position of Grand Chancellor of the Sui court in Dingxiang, he is in reality subject to the Turks' every command.
The Turks even sent Tutun with troops to monitor Yunshuo.
"They not only levied taxes but also acted arrogantly in Yunshuo. This time, Jieli's retreat revealed the true weakness of the Turks to the people of Mayi, especially their plundering nature, which the people of Mayi had long suffered from."

Li Yi secretly sent people to Mayi to infiltrate and subvert the regime, and Gao Manzheng was chosen as the target.

Gao Manzheng was originally a general under Liu Wuzhou. He was also a powerful local figure in Mayi, just like Yuan Junzhang. He was a local strongman with a certain reputation and strength in Mayi.

After some contact,
Gao Manzheng has finally made contact, and he is also very aware of the current crisis. So, with the promise of Li Yi's envoy, he prepares to change ships.

Just now, Yuan Junzhang had taken the main force of Mayi to Yunzhou, leaving Mayi City undefended. Gao Manzheng, as the general who stayed behind to defend the city, decided to make a desperate attempt.

“I have already promised Gao Manzheng that if he leads the city to surrender, I will recommend him to the court as the governor and prefect of Shuozhou, so that he can replace Yuan Junzhang as the governor of Yunshuo.”

Li Yi, a high-ranking official, served as Minister of Works, Attendant-in-Ordinary, Prince of Wu'an, and General of the Right Guard. He was also the Chief Secretary of the Hedong Military Campaign, the General Manager of the Hebei Military Campaign, and the Grand General Manager of Dingzhou. His promises naturally reassured Gao Manzheng.

Especially after the battle in the clouds,

Gao Manzheng saw through the Turks' outward strength but inner weakness, and also recognized Li Yi's remarkable abilities.

If he hadn't surrendered to Tang earlier,

Mayi was the first to be affected, with the Tang army at Yanmen to the south, the Tang army at Loufan Pass and Wuzhou to the southwest, and Yingzhou, which had been invaded by the Tang army, to the southeast.

Mayi cannot hold out.

"Gao Manzheng sent his trusted confidants to say that most of the three thousand soldiers in Mayi City are his subordinates, and Tutun, who is under the supervision of the Turks, only has two hundred Turkic cavalry."

Furthermore, Yuan Junzhang's son remained in command, with only eight hundred soldiers under his command.

Gao Manzheng alone could kill Tujue Tutun and his two hundred cavalry, as well as Yuan Junzhang's son's eight hundred soldiers, and seize Mayi City.

What he feared was the counterattack from Yuan Junzhang and Bu Lishe after capturing Mayi, so he needed the Tang army to send troops to support him.

"I am willing to lead my four thousand Youzhou cavalry to Mayi to provide support," Li Daoxuan said without hesitation.

"No rush. It's not far from Mayi. Wait until Gao Manzheng brings the heads of Tujue Tutun and Yuan Junzhang's son before you send out your troops." Li Yi was in no hurry.

Although he believed that Gao Manzheng was really going to surrender, it was always better to be cautious and he had to see a pledge of allegiance first.

Upon seeing the heads of Turkic Tutun and Yuan Junzhang's son, Gao Manzheng had no way to turn back.

"Then I will make preparations here in advance and be ready to enter Mayi City at any time."

Li Yi shook his head, "After Gao Manzheng surrenders the city, you don't need to go to Mayi City."

"Brother Wang, do you intend to use one tiger to devour another, or do you want to use someone else to do your dirty work?"

"No, we're going to pull off something big. This time, we'll pretend we don't know anything. Gao Manzheng will kill the Turks, seize the city, and surrender. Yuan Junzhang will definitely be the most furious then."

His son was killed, his stronghold was seized, what would he do?

Li Daoxuan's eyes lit up. "He will surely lead his troops south immediately to attack Gao Manzheng and reclaim Mayi."

"That's right. Now that we can predict the enemy's movements, isn't the next step easy?"

"An ambush on the way?"

Li Yi finally nodded, and the young prince laughed excitedly, but the laughter aggravated the wound on his face, so he had to restrain himself. "Good, brother, this is a good move. Entering Mayi City is a passive defense, but by ambushing us halfway, we can take the initiative."

Li Yi picked up a twig under the shade of a tree and made a few simple cuts.

Yingzhou, Shuozhou, Yunzhou
Sanggan River,
"This time, we not only want to take Mayi, but also annihilate Yuan Junzhang's main force, and even severely damage Bu Lishe."

If we defeat them, it's not impossible to take Cloud City as a result.

The young Li Daoxuan was very supportive of Li Yi's bold plan. He was eager to make a big splash and wipe away the previous humiliation with a glorious victory.

If it were his own decision, he might have hesitated after experiencing such a crushing defeat, but since it was Li Yi's decision, he readily supported it.

As for the recent ceasefire and peace agreement between the imperial court and the Turks...

They're about to send the princess to marry a foreign ruler, and they'll also be bestowing gold and silk as gifts.

Li Daoxuan didn't care at all, nor did he want to pay attention to it.

But he was worried that it would affect Li Yi.

"Brother Wang, now that the court has made peace with the Turks, will our actions affect the overall situation of the court? Will someone impeach us for undermining the peace agreement and arbitrarily provoking conflict on the border?"

Li Yi simply snorted coldly, "Peace is not something that can be negotiated at the negotiating table, much less bought with women and gold; it can only be won on the battlefield."

Why should we give up our chance to attack? Are we going to wait until Jieli has finished his raids and is resting before launching another attack?

Mayi and Yunzhong are the gateways to the north of Dai, and they must be controlled.

We must fight the Khaliq to make peace, not offer them women and gold.

"But what if the imperial court investigates?"

"I, Li Yi, am willing to take this responsibility!"

“Brother Wang, count me in. If the court really pursues the matter, I, Li Daoxuan, will take the blame.”

(End of this chapter)