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

Chapter 573 The Crown Prince Who Holds Back
"It's getting dark, and the soldiers are exhausted after a fierce battle. Let's rest for the night and discuss it again tomorrow."

Seeing that Li Yi's expression was unfriendly, and that Xue Wanche was standing there like a pillar, Li Gaoqian quickly tried to smooth things over.

Tang Lin also felt bitter.

Of all the generals, only Li Gaoqian and Gao Manzheng expressed their willingness to withdraw their troops. The other generals were clearly unwilling. If Li Yi refused to hand over his military seal and withdraw his troops now, would Xue Wanche really arrest Li Yi?

Even if he dares, can he actually do it?

Taking a deep breath, Tang Lin forced a smile. "Jiang Xia Gong is right. The soldiers have fought a bloody day and are exhausted. It's also dark now, so it's not convenient to withdraw now. We'll break camp and retreat at dawn tomorrow."

Tonight's dinner,

It's stewed horse meat with millet rice.

There is a lot of horse meat.

They routed an army of 50,000 and pursued them for 30 li, leaving countless horses dead or wounded along the way.

The injured horse can be kept for now.

Dead horses were skinned, butchered, and stewed. Since this was enemy territory and a battlefield, and with so many dead horses and the weather so hot, it was impossible to sell them in the market. If they were stationed at the garrison, a small number of dead or wounded warhorses would be sold cheaply to the market or to the soldiers.

On the battlefield, extra meals were directly provided to the soldiers.

Li Yi and his generals also ate stewed horse meat.

Lacking seasonings, the horse meat the soldiers stewed on the battlefield didn't taste very good, but after a major battle...
Everyone was hungry and exhausted at this point.

They ate the horse meat with great gusto. No matter how unpalatable it was, it was still meat. Who would still think of the saying "donkey meat is fragrant, horse meat is smelly" and "I would rather die than eat mule meat"?

Li Yi also ate about two catties of stewed horse meat, plus three bowls of millet rice, with the stewed horse meat broth poured over it, and ate his fill.

After the meal, take a walk to aid digestion.

Liu Heita, Su Dingfang, Li Cunxiao, and several other generals followed along.

"Master Sikong, that Xue Laosi is far too arrogant and presumptuous. Just now, that kid actually tried to force you to hand over the military tally."

"I'll kill him when it gets late at night." Liu Heita seemed to be saying it as simply as crushing a rat.

That was a General of Chariots and Cavalry, a fifth-rank military officer, and a confidant of the Crown Prince, who also held the title of Duke of Wu'an County.

He's a viscount from Zhangnan County, yet he's so audacious.

Li Yi rubbed his stomach, his expression calm.

I was so hungry earlier that I ate a lot, and now I feel bloated, but I also think that the horse meat really didn't taste good.

I'm even getting a little tired of it.

“Xue Wanche is just a messenger,” Li Yi said.

Su Dingfang said worriedly, "Minister, even if the Crown Prince didn't know we had already won a great victory when he issued the order, his order attributes the retreat of the Turks entirely to the peace treaty with the court, while making no mention of Liu Shirang's defense of Yanmen and our efforts to advance deep into the area to provide relief."
Even if a messenger reports that Yuan Junzhang and the Turkic army were defeated at Huanghualiang,
I'm afraid the Crown Prince will still not change his attitude and will still make us withdraw our troops. He will never agree to attack Yunzhong, and may even have to give up Mayi again.

I think it's unnecessary for Sikong to insist on sending troops to Yunzhong. After all, it's His Highness the Crown Prince. Even if we capture Yunzhong City, what can we do if the Crown Prince insists on giving up?

Su Dingfang believed that there was no need to send troops to Yunzhong again, both for the public and for private reasons. Firstly, the morale of the army had already wavered, and secondly, Li Yi could not defy the Crown Prince and disobey military orders.

Li Cunxiao bluntly stated, "What is our Crown Prince thinking? After taking command, he has remained holed up in Puzhou and hasn't moved an inch."
There were no orders or commands given to the front lines.

After the battle was over, Jieli withdrew his troops, and he immediately fled to Taiyuan.

But now that we've seized the opportunity to capture Mayi and annihilate the enemy, the Crown Prince only wants us to withdraw our troops. He even wants to abandon Mayi, which has already surrendered.

Li Yi was utterly disappointed in the Crown Prince.

Historically, Li Jiancheng did have opportunities to command troops. From marching south from Taiyuan to pacifying Guanzhong, then to sending troops to Luoyang, then to inspecting the north of the capital, and then to pacifying Hebei, Li Yuan actually gave Li Jiancheng many opportunities to make military achievements.

But things are very different now than they were in history.

For example, Liu Biaoqi, the very same general in history, rebelled against the Tang Dynasty twice after Dou Jiande was beheaded in Chang'an.
Li Jiancheng seized the opportunity and went to Hebei to lead the campaign against Liu Bei.

Historically, Li Jiancheng's performance in the campaign to quell Liu Heita was actually quite poor. He first ordered several Tang armies, including those led by Luo Yi, Li Shiji, and Li Daoxuan, to fight against Liu Heita.

Many governors, prefects, and generals died, and almost the entire Hebei province was seized. Li Jiancheng arrived late, but he only took action during Liu Heita's second rebellion.

The truly difficult battle was Liu Heita's first rebellion against the Tang Dynasty, which was quelled by Li Shimin. After being defeated by Li Shimin, Liu Heita fled to the Turks and sought refuge with Khagan Jieli. He helped Jieli first annihilate Li Da'en in Daibei, and later borrowed troops to return to Hebei.

However, at that time, Liu Heita and the anti-Tang forces in Hebei were much weaker than before, especially due to food shortages and a significant drop in popular support.
When Li Jiancheng led his army to attack, Liu Heita was outwardly strong but inwardly weak, and the people longed for stability, so the campaign was quickly quelled.

This also earned Li Jiancheng a reputation for military merit. In any case, Liu Heita's second rebellion against the Tang Dynasty caused quite a stir.

But nowadays,

Dou Jiande did not send troops to rescue Wang Shichong; before he could even deploy his forces, Wang Shichong was already defeated. By the time Dou Jiande realized what was happening, it was too late. Li Shimin led his army into Hebei, and Li Yi, after pacifying eastern Henan, marched north, ultimately together annihilating the Great Xia.

Subsequent policies to appease Hebei prevented a large-scale rebellion in Hebei, and Liu Heita became a Tang general.

Gao Kaidao rebelled, and the Crown Prince had originally also seized the opportunity to take command.
But he dragged his feet, wanting the local authorities in Hebei to weaken Gao Kaidao first. As a result, before he could even reap the rewards in Hebei, Li Yi and Wang Junkuo had already pacified Hebei.

The crown prince not only failed to gain any credit, but also lost a lot of face.

When Jieli attacked Daibei, Li Yuan again appointed Jiancheng as the commander-in-chief, but he was so timid that he didn't even dare to go to Taiyuan.

Therefore, he missed out on the military merit of suppressing the rebellion in Hebei.

Since the Crown Prince was born, he has not had any outstanding military achievements.

He also lacked confidence in commanding troops and fighting battles.

Li Yi, however, repeatedly distinguished himself in military campaigns, yet no matter how the Crown Prince tried to win him over, Li Yi remained unmoved. This undoubtedly fueled the Crown Prince's dissatisfaction with Li Yi. Now, Li Yi was preparing to lead an army against the Turks and reclaim Yunshuo.
The Crown Prince offered no support whatsoever. Not only did he refuse to support Li Yi, but he also tried to pressure him in the name of the overall interests of the court, and even attempted to seize his military power.

Since you're so ungrateful and refuse to stand on my side, insisting on standing on Shimin's side instead, then I'll kick you off the stage.

Based on Li Yi's understanding of the Crown Prince, he was able to roughly figure out the truth behind this.

The Crown Prince is not an incompetent person, but he is not good at military affairs, which is his weakness.

Currently, there are opposing views on whether to fight or make peace with the Turks, but peace is still the primary approach.

Li Jiancheng was somewhat indecisive and lacked decisiveness.

This incident was partly due to personal grudges, and partly due to his limited understanding and persistent fear of the Turks, which led to his so-called "putting the greater good first" attitude.

Li Daoxuan rushed over, his face filled with anger.

"Brother Wang, the Crown Prince has sent men to confiscate your military tally and dismiss you from your post?"

He was not at the camp, but was out searching for enemy soldiers with the Youzhou cavalry.

Upon returning, he heard about this incident. If Li Gaoqian hadn't stopped him, he would have whipped Xue Wanche with his horsewhip.

"That's true," Li Yi nodded. "The Crown Prince has arrived in Taiyuan and sent someone to summon us to pay our respects."

Let us immediately retreat back to Yanmen Pass.

Li Daoxuan's face was full of dissatisfaction, which he made no attempt to hide. "Why didn't His Highness the Crown Prince come to Taiyuan when Jieli was around? Now that the war is over, he's here."

He is afraid of the Turks and won't let us fight them.

"Now that we've won, are we still going to retreat?"

"That's unreasonable!"

"Don't be angry. I've already thought it through. Since the Crown Prince has already ordered my dismissal and taken away my military token, I can no longer openly disobey the order."

Let's withdraw the troops tomorrow.

"Aren't you going to attack Yunzhong City?" Li Daoxuan asked anxiously. "Yunzhong City only has about ten thousand defeated soldiers at most. If we take advantage of our victory and attack, we can definitely take it in one fell swoop."

"Brother Wang, if we take Yunzhong City, we can recover the entire Yunshuo and Shuo prefectures. This is an opportunity that will not come again."

Li Yi shook his head. "Li Gaoqian and Gao Manzheng have both wavered. If they withdraw their troops, we will lose 10,000 soldiers."

Besides, given the Crown Prince's current attitude, even if we fight tooth and nail to capture Yunzhong City, he might just hand it back without a second thought. Wouldn't that mean all our efforts have been in vain?

"Fortunately, his order came a day late. We had already defeated Yuan Junzhang, capturing and killing more than 30,000. Even if Yuan Junzhang retreated to Yunzhong, he was completely crippled."

Li Daoxuan was furious. "We've lost without being defeated, and won without actually winning?"

When he heard that the Crown Prince wanted Gao Manzheng to lead the soldiers and civilians of Mayi to retreat into Yanmen Pass and hand Mayi over to Yuan Junzhang, he roared in anger, "We must not give Mayi away! Even if Gao Manzheng obeys the Crown Prince's order, I will lead my cavalry to garrison Mayi and never give it up!"

"I must report to the Emperor in Chang'an that the Crown Prince is utterly wrong!"

Back in camp,

Li Yi summoned the officers and soldiers of the camp again, and also invited Tang Lin and Xue Wanche.

He announced to everyone that the troops would be withdrawn and returned to Yanmen Pass early the next morning.

As soon as this news came out,
Tang Lin and Xue Wanche both looked much more relaxed.

Their biggest worry was that Li Yi would disobey the Crown Prince's orders and act like a general in the field who could not follow orders, which would put them in a difficult position.

With only a hundred light cavalry guards, do they really think they can capture Li Yi right here in his camp?
Even if Li Gaoqian and Gao Manzheng agree to withdraw their troops, they will not help to capture Li Yi.

That night,
Xue Wanche, however, ordered his hundred light cavalry to remain in their tents, armored and saddled, ready for battle.

He was terrified that Liu Shirang or Li Yi might sabotage him that night.

This is outside the Great Wall, in Li Yi's military camp. Killing a hundred or so people wouldn't be difficult.

Although the possibility is small, it's always wise to be cautious.

However, Tang Lin,

He was quite relaxed, saying he trusted Li Yi. Since Li Yi said he would withdraw the troops tomorrow, he would definitely do so, and he would not harm them in the camp.

Tianming,

Nothing happened all night.

Xue Wanche had red eyes and barely slept all night.

For breakfast, I ate stewed horse meat and millet porridge again.

The sun rose, shining high over the Sanggan River.
There were no unexpected complications.
After breakfast, the troops began to break camp and withdraw, heading south one after another.

Thirty thousand Tang soldiers, carrying over three thousand severed heads, more than thirty thousand prisoners, and a great deal of captured horses and supplies, marched south in a mighty force.

The soldiers sang triumphant songs and returned in triumph, their spirits high.

In the Battle of Huanghualiang, the Tang army suffered over 300 dead, over 1,000 lightly wounded, and lost only over 2,000 warhorses, yet achieved a victory that routed 50,000 enemy troops, beheaded over 3,000, and captured over 32,000.
It was another great victory on the battlefield. The soldiers only knew that they had won a great victory and would receive many merit rewards. They did not know why they did not attack Yunzhou City again and withdrew so quickly.

Anyway, we've accomplished enough this time, so it's good to call it a day.

(End of this chapter)