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

Chapter 575 Do you know your sin?

The setting sun in July scorched the loess soil of the northern frontier.
As Li Yi traveled south from the north and approached this ancient and majestic pass, the first thing that caught his eye was the gray-black city wall stretching across the towering mountains.
It was like a sharp sword drawn from its sheath, forcefully cleaving the vastness of nomadic life and the lushness of agriculture.

The arrow tower stands tall, and the majestic pass stands firm.

Looking at this majestic pass, I couldn't help but feel a longing to go home.

Beneath the city gate, the triumphant soldiers formed a long, winding line, followed by countless horses and camels.

On the fortress, crimson flags fluttered fiercely.

The wind swept by, stirring up fine sand.

Li Yi reined in his horse and looked at the large banner representing the Crown Prince. His Highness the Crown Prince had already arrived at Yanmen Pass.

A group of knights emerged from the pass and galloped toward them.

"Minister Sikong, His Highness the Crown Prince has sent us to greet you. Please."

Li Yi nodded.
At this time, the army entering Yanmen Pass consisted of Liu Shirang's 10,000 Daizhou troops, Li Gaoqian's 5,000 Xinzhou troops, and more than 30,000 prisoners.

Five thousand soldiers from Shuozhou and four thousand cavalry from Youzhou were stationed in Mayi.

The 12,000 Yingzhou troops returned directly to the banks of the Hun River and did not head south.

Li Daoxuan, the Prince of Huaiyang, who was standing next to Li Yi, left his four thousand cavalrymen in Mayi and only took a squad of personal guard cavalry with him. He looked at the figure on the gate tower and sneered, "That silk armor with gold and silver gilding is quite conspicuous."

He harbored a deep resentment towards his cousin, the Crown Prince.

"Let's go." Li Yi gave him a look, signaling him not to say anything out of line in front of the Eastern Palace Knights.

The crown prince is the heir apparent of the country, and the heir apparent is also a ruler, while they, as princes, are merely subjects.

As long as the position of crown prince remains in effect, the proper respect must still be shown.

On the tower of Yanmen Pass,
Li Jiancheng personally visited the gate tower, and even specially wore a gorgeous silk armor. Looking at the winding dragon, Li Jiancheng was expressionless and solemn.

Ren Can, the Imperial Kitchen Attendant, exclaimed in a low voice, "So many prisoners and horses! I never imagined that Li Yi would actually achieve such a great victory at Huanghualiang."

Zheng Shanguo, the Left Vice Minister of the Crown Prince, frowned. "Li Yi disregarded the overall situation of the court and launched an attack on his own, destroying the peace agreement and putting the hard-won peace agreement on the verge of collapse. This is a case of losing more than one gains for a small gain."

"Once we provoke the Turkic Khaganate Jieli to send troops, we don't know how we'll be able to handle the situation."

“Li Yi is arrogant and domineering, relying on his merits and ignoring the Crown Prince’s orders.” Prince Yan, Li Yi, bluntly stated.

"The Khan's revenge is probably just around the corner. When hundreds of thousands of his cavalry march south, how will we deal with them?"

When news of Li Yi's great victory at Huanghualiang, in which over 3,000 were beheaded and more than 30,000 were captured, reached Taiyuan, Li Jiancheng initially did not believe it.

The numbers are outrageous.

The combined forces of the Northern Turks and the Northern Wei, numbering 50,000, were primarily cavalry, with most of the infantry mounted. Li Yi had assembled several units, totaling 30,000 men, but even in an ambush...

It's impossible to achieve such a result.

Yuan Junzhang and Bu Lishe are not some kind of refugees or bandits, so why don't they run away?

You might be able to behead three thousand, and capture three to five thousand prisoners is also possible.

But you beheaded three thousand and captured thirty-two thousand. How is that possible?

Even if you attack a Turkic nomadic tribe, those people won't be able to be captured by you.

Under normal circumstances, in open field battles, if one side suffers a loss of about 10%, they will often flee in defeat. If the loss reaches 20%, they will be completely routed.

Of the 50,000 men, 35,000 were killed or captured, a staggering 70% of the prisoners were killed.
The imperial court records merits based on killing more than four-tenths of prisoners, which is considered a top-tier achievement. Top-tier achievements are extremely rare, and Li Yi has already achieved seven and a half tenths.

At that time in Taiyuan City,

Not only did Li Jiancheng not believe it,

None of the Crown Prince's officials believed it.

Some even say that Li Yi wrote 32,000 prisoners as 3,200.

However, Tang Lin and Xue Wanche then sent a fast horse to report back, detailing the battle situation. The report stated that more than 3,000 people had been beheaded and 32,000 had been captured, with the numbers even accurate to the single digit.

The prisoners and beheaded were mainly from the Daibei army, but there were also many from the Turkic Sogdians, Tiele, Xi, Khitan, and some from the Turkic Ashina tribe. The specific number of prisoners and beheaded from each tribe was recorded in great detail.

Tang Lin and Xue Wanche were officials of the Crown Prince's Palace; they would never have lied about Li Yi's military achievements.

They had to accept this incredible victory.

Li Yi truly made remarkable contributions in the battle of Huanghualiang.
However, Li Yi and others quickly attributed the defeat to Yuan Junzhang's incompetence, saying that most of those captured and killed in this battle were Yuan Junzhang's soldiers. They claimed that the Daibei army had lost all its elite troops when Liu Wuzhou was defeated in Hedong, and now its ranks were mostly composed of old, weak, and new recruits.
The heavy casualties were caused by the fact that some of the vassal tribes under Bu Lishe fled after the defeat of the Daibei army.

In the end, it wasn't that Li Yi was too powerful, but rather that Yuan Junzhang was too weak, and the Turkic vassals were too weak.

And even if we captured over 30,000, what use would that be?

The prisoners and executions were merely Turkic vassals, but they ruined the hard-won peace agreement and will incur Jieli's wrath.

In summary, Li Yi's victory at Huanghualiang was not a great achievement; in fact, it was a mistake.

Must be severely punished.

Otherwise, if border generals disregard the imperial court and arbitrarily provoke border conflicts in pursuit of military achievements, that would be disastrous.

This time, not only Li Yi needs to be held accountable,

The generals who followed Li Yi into battle should also be held accountable.

The troops entered the city.

They were greeted not with flowers and applause, nor with beef, wine, or rewards.

"The Crown Prince orders all officers of the sixth rank and above to attend a military meeting, while officers of the lower rank shall immediately return to their respective garrisons with their troops."

The generals of the various cavalry commands are ranked as follows: upper rank of fourth grade, middle rank of fourth grade, and lower rank of fifth grade.

The General of Chariots and Cavalry was of the fifth rank or lower in the Upper Prefecture, the sixth rank or upper in the Middle Prefecture, and the sixth rank or lower in the Lower Prefecture.

Chief Secretary, Military Advisors of Various Departments, Colonel, and Brigade Commander were generally of the seventh or eighth rank.

This phrase, "rank six and above," effectively kept all the officers of the rank of chief commander in the army.

Upon hearing this order, Liu Shirang was the first to lose his temper. "The army has returned victorious, having traveled for five days straight from Huanghualiang before finally entering Yanmen Pass. Are you not even allowed to rest before returning to our town?"

"This is the Crown Prince's decree!" the Eastern Palace knight, clad in gleaming armor, replied coldly. Li Daoxuan angrily said, "Our soldiers went beyond the Great Wall to fight, inflicting a great defeat on the enemy, and then marched back and forth. They haven't had a moment's rest for over ten days. Now that they've finally returned to the pass, instead of immediately rewarding them for their merits..."

But shouldn't we at least reward the soldiers with beef and wine, and let them rest here for two or three days before returning to our town?"

The knight was forced back a few steps by the imposing presence of the young prince with a long scar on his face. His face turned pale, and he reiterated, "This is the Crown Prince's order, and we are acting on orders."

Li Daoxuan jumped off his horse and lashed out with his whip, shouting, "I'm going to confront the Crown Prince!"

The generals' expressions were also not very good.

Only Li Yi remained calm; he had expected this all along.

But his opinion of the Crown Prince couldn't help but drop a few points; after all, they had won a great victory.

Both for public and private reasons, the Crown Prince must reward the soldiers.

This is also a great opportunity to win over these generals.

Now this has happened, I wonder which idiot came up with this idea for the Crown Prince.

You, Li Jiancheng, are only the crown prince, not the emperor. Even if you were the emperor, you couldn't do whatever you wanted.

The group, their faces grim, followed the palace guards to pay their respects to the Crown Prince.

Dozens of officers of the sixth rank and above, their iron armor clanging and clattering.

The Crown Prince did not summon him from the city gate tower.

Instead, they were sent to pay their respects at the military camps inside the pass.

At this time, the Crown Prince's guards were stationed in the military camp.
The banners of Chaocheng, Lüben, and Zhidang fluttered, representing the six commands of the Eastern Palace's outer palace troops: the Left and Right Guards, the Left and Right Imperial Guards, and the Left and Right Road Guards.

At the camp gate, guards were stationed by the Crown Prince's left and right gatekeepers.

"Please remove your armor and swords upon entering the camp!"

The guards at the gate raised their spears and blocked the generals.

"Appear before the Crown Prince, remove your armor, and lay down your sword!"

Li Daoxuan was furious, but Li Yi quickly pulled him back, saying it was unnecessary.

He took the lead in removing his armor right in front of the camp gate. He was only wearing rhinoceros-hide armor, so removing it was easy for him. He also took off his sword.

As for bows, spears, and maces, they were all left on horseback.

Led by Li Yi, dozens of generals of the sixth rank and above removed their armor and swords in front of the Crown Prince's camp.

Ding ding ding ding,

Each of their personal guards carried away their armor and swords.

Dressed in military uniform, Li Daoxuan shouted at the guards at the gate, "Get out of the way!"

The gatekeeper led his soldiers to put away their spears and clear the camp gate.

Li Yi and his generals entered the camp.

But the crown prince did not wait for them in the tent.

When they entered the tent, it was empty.

"Where is the prince?"

"Please wait a moment, the Crown Prince will be here shortly."

Immediately,

They waited for almost half an hour before the Crown Prince finally arrived. They were left standing there waiting for more than half an hour without even being offered a cup of water.

"His Royal Highness is here!"

Finally, the sound of the Crown Prince's arrival came from outside the tent.
Li Yi stood up.
"Gentlemen, I was just inspecting the border and comforting the wounded soldiers, so I am a little late. Please forgive me."

Li Jiancheng was still wearing that magnificent silk armor.

In this July weather, they don't even mind the heat.
Li Jiancheng went straight to Li Yi with a smile on his face, "Wu Yi, you must be tired from your journey."

"With my duty to serve the country in mind, I dare not complain about the hardships."

Li Jiancheng came up, took his hand, and led him to the seat of honor.

"Generals, you have all worked hard. Please have a seat."

Li Daoxuan stood there, saying, "Your Highness, we have returned victorious, and our soldiers have entered the pass. Why are they not even allowed to rest for a few days in the pass?"

It was getting dark, yet they were still making the soldiers continue their journey.

What's the point?
Are we not defeated soldiers who have lost their army and disgraced their country?

Li Jiancheng looked at his young cousin.

The scar on his face was so hideous.
"Sixth Brother, come and sit with your brother. How is the scar on your face? I'll have the Imperial Pharmacy prepare medicine for you to remove the scar later."

Li Daoxuan stood there, saying, "It doesn't matter whether I remove these mere scars or not."

Jiancheng nodded, "It's good to keep it; we should always remember this lesson. In the battle at Yunzhong City, you disobeyed orders to retreat and insisted on sending troops without authorization, putting 20,000 Youzhou soldiers in danger."

Wu Yi risked his life to come to the rescue, but still lost eight hundred elite cavalry.

Liu Lang,
Although you are a member of the royal family, on the battlefield you are a general of the imperial court. As the Grand Commander of Youzhou and Deputy Commander of the Hebei Road Campaign, you must consider the overall situation, not seek personal glory or to grab merits.

They ignored military orders.

"You only have a scar on your face, yet eight hundred elite cavalry from Youzhou lost their lives beneath the walls of Yunzhong City because of you!"

Li Jiancheng's face turned cold. "Prince of Huaiyang, you disobeyed military orders and led troops out of command without authorization, resulting in heavy losses. Do you know your crime?"

The tent suddenly fell silent.

It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop; there was absolute silence.

To everyone's surprise, the Crown Prince publicly reprimanded the Prince of Huaiyang when the generals returned in triumph.

(End of this chapter)