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

Chapter 585 Overall Military Strategy
August th, Mid-Autumn Festival.

At dawn, all civil and military officials of the ninth rank and above in the capital entered the palace for court assembly.

On the golden palace,

Li Shouxuan, a scribe in the Imperial Secretariat, presented a scroll of bright yellow silk and read out the imperial edict.

"In discussing the merits of governing a nation, one must be judged solely on one's achievements and virtues..."

"The Grand General of the Heavenly Strategy, Grand Commandant, Minister of Works, Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, Grand Chancellor of Shaanxi East Circuit, Governor of Yongzhou, General of the Left and Right Twelve Guards, Pillar of State, Prince Qin Shimin, is a man of great stature and insightful vision. Therefore, he was entrusted with the task of establishing and building a great enterprise."

Having pacified Qin and Long, his outstanding achievements are evident; having subdued Zhou and Han, his military might extends far and wide. The remaining bandits of Hebei are easily subdued… He should be granted additional favor and honors, and given a post equivalent to his usual rank. His appointment to oversee military affairs is a truly worthy expectation.

He could hold the positions of Minister of the Imperial Secretariat of Yizhou Circuit and concurrently Governor-General of Liangzhou.

He was appointed Marshal of the Hedong Expeditionary Army, Commander-in-Chief of the Hedong and Hebei Circuits, and commander of the troops of the Northern Expeditionary Prefectures, all of whom were given command. His other official positions remained unchanged.

Li Yi listened intently to every sentence of the imperial edict read aloud by Li Shouxuan. Aside from the usual praise and commendation, the most crucial content...
As expected, the King of Qin was appointed to lead the northern expedition and was officially granted the title of marshal.

Somewhat surprisingly, Li Yuan also gave Li Shimin two more official titles: one was the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat of Yizhou, which he had previously served as, and the other was the Governor-General of Liangzhou, which he had also concurrently held.

At this point, giving him these two official positions that Li Shimin had previously held was clearly a way of rewarding the Prince of Qin in advance.

But Li Shimin already had enough official titles as the General of Heavenly Strategy, so adding these two additional concurrent posts wouldn't make much difference.

Yesterday at the Prince of Qin's residence, the emperor made a private promise to Li Shimin to establish a crown prince, which of course would not be made public in the palace.

However, after hearing Li Yuan's promise yesterday, Li Shimin immediately agreed to lead the troops to fight against the Turks.

After Li Yuan left

Li Shimin didn't hide it from him and immediately told Li Yi the good news.

Li Shimin was so excited at the time that Li Yi didn't want to dampen his spirits. After defeating the Turks, Li Yuan would most likely break his promise.

However, obtaining the command of the Northern Expedition would greatly help Li Shimin's current situation. After defeating the Turks, this achievement would further enhance his prestige and highlight the shortcomings of the Crown Prince.

It's impossible to make Li Yuan change the heir so easily; it has to be done step by step.

"King Qin, receive the imperial edict!"

"Your subject receives the imperial edict."

Li Shimin, his face flushed, rose and stepped forward to respectfully accept the imperial edict with both hands raised high.

This was not a simple edict to launch an expedition.

This is the emperor's promise.
After defeating the Turks, I will make you the crown prince.

Li Yuan sat on the imperial couch.
She smiled at her son.

Li Shimin became increasingly excited.

Li Yi witnessed this scene of fatherly love and filial piety. Li Yuan was indeed good at making empty promises, and Li Shimin was still relatively young, only twenty-three years old. Even though he had experienced a lot of being sidelined and accumulated a lot of disappointment in the past two years, he still became optimistic as soon as he was given a little sunshine.

"Prince Li Yi of Wu'an, receive the imperial edict!"

Li Shousu then produced another imperial edict and read it aloud.

Li Yi, dressed in purple robes and a jade belt, stood up and stepped forward.

The emperor also bestowed several official titles upon Li Yi: Left Vice Minister of the Shaanxi East Circuit, Grand General of Bingzhou, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Hedong Expeditionary Army, and General General of the Bingzhou Circuit.

They also added 300 households to the list of those to be sealed off.

Li Yi's current official titles are: Minister of Works, Attendant-in-Ordinary, Grand General of the Eastern Shaanxi Circuit, Left Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, Grand General of Bingzhou, Right General of the Imperial Guard, Pillar of State, Prince of Wu'an, Deputy Commander of the Hedong Campaign and General Manager of the Bingzhou Campaign.

The actual food supply was sealed for 1,500 households.

"Your Majesty, Li Yi, obeys the imperial edict!"

Upon receiving the imperial edict, one could feel countless gazes fixed upon them from the hall.

Who could have predicted this?
This Prince Wu'an was dismissed from his post by the Crown Prince in Daibei and recalled to the capital on suspicion of treason. However, the day after his return to the capital, he was given such an important position and was granted an additional 300 households of fiefdom, making him the first person in the Tang Dynasty to receive a real fiefdom.

The King of Qin was granted a fief of 1,500 households.

Pei Ji and An Xinggui, brothers, only received 600 households, while the other meritorious officials who were granted fiefs received only 300 households each.

The Crown Prince's chief clerk is now the deputy commander of the King of Qin's army.

He was appointed Grand General of Dingzhou, and later reassigned as Grand General of Bingzhou.

The position of Grand General of Bingzhou was originally held remotely by the King of Qi, with the King of Xiangyi, Li Shenfu, acting as his inspector. Now, Li Yi has taken over the post.

Continue reading the imperial edict.

Tang Jian, Minister of Rites and Chief Secretary of the Tiance Prefecture, was appointed Chief Secretary of the Expeditionary Army. Qu Tutong, Minister of Works and Duke of Jiang, was appointed Military Advisor of the Expeditionary Army.

Prince Qi, Li Yuanji, served as the deputy commander of the expeditionary force.

Prince Li Daoxuan of Huaiyang was appointed as the General Administrator of Daizhou and the General Administrator of the Yanmen Road Army.

Li Daoxuan did not reinstate the Grand Steward, but his act of disobeying orders still had some impact.

Li Shenfu, the Prince of Xiangyi, was transferred to the position of Grand General of Youzhou. Previously, the Crown Prince had appointed Li Yi, the Prince of Yan, as the Grand General of Youzhou. This time, the Emperor changed Li Yi's appointment to the position of Grand General of Jingzhou and Grand General of the Jingzhou Road Camp.

Luo Shixin was appointed Governor-General of Jinzhou, and Yuchi Gong was appointed Governor-General of Shuozhou...
At last,
The emperor dispatched the crown prince to garrison Binzhou, leading Prince Luo Yi of Yan, along with generals Dou Cong, Sang Xianhe, and Xue Wanche, to attack the western Turkic forces of Yusheshe and Shaboluoshe.

basically,
The emperor also abandoned his plan to have Li Shimin or Li Yi assist the crown prince in guarding Hedong. This time, he appointed Li Shimin as commander-in-chief, and although he still commanded the troops from Hebei and Hedong, the generals were basically transferred from the Tiance Mansion, the Qin Prince's Mansion, and the Shaanxi East Circuit Grand Commandery.

It turned out that all the loyal generals of the Qin King's mansion, such as Qu Tutong, Duan Zhixuan, Zhai Changsun, Qin Qiong, Yuchi Gong, Cheng Yaojin, Zhang Shigui, and Shuang Shilu, also followed the Qin King on his campaign.

We can't worry about anything else now; everything is focused on defeating the Turks.

Even if we don't want to completely defeat the Turks, we should at least win a few battles to curb their offensive before we can force them to negotiate peace and withdraw their troops.

As for the rest, I can't worry about that now, I'll deal with it after I finish the game.

At this time, Qin Wang Li Shimin was reinstated, but the emperor still sent the crown prince to Binzhou, still holding some hope that the crown prince could defeat the western Turkic army with the assistance of Li Yi and make some contributions.

With a formidable enemy at hand,

Li Yuan was not in the mood to hold a Mid-Autumn Festival banquet.
This was good news for Li Yi, who had just returned to Beijing and preferred to spend more time with his wife and children.

The meeting is over,

Li Yuan deliberately kept Li Shimin, Li Yi, and other officers of the expeditionary force behind to discuss military matters with the prime ministers.

"What strategy does the King of Qin have to repel his troops?"

Faced with the emperor's question, Li Shimin remained calm and composed, showing confidence.

"Your Majesty, the Turks have now captured Shuoying and Daixin, and the Daibei defense line has collapsed."

Bingzhou was also besieged, and the Turks even swept south like a tide, breaking through the Queshu Valley. From Jiexiu to Jinzhou, for hundreds of miles, there were Turk soldiers everywhere, filling the valleys and rivers.

Meanwhile, the Turks also sent troops to plunder the Zelu region to the east and the Shixi region to the west.

Fortunately, the major cities of Bingzhou, Fenzhou, Luzhou, Wuzhou, Shizhou, Lanzhou, and Xizhou have not yet fallen.
The main forces in Hedong and Hebei did not suffer major losses.

Therefore, the most important thing now is to first stop the Turks' continued southward offensive, and then look for opportunities to defeat them one by one.

Li Shimin was not afraid of the Turks.
The longer the Turkic battle lines are stretched out and the more sparsely their troops are deployed, the greater the opportunity for a counterattack.

"Your subject will lead an army to assemble at Longmen in Taizhou, Hedong, to block the vanguard of the Turks advancing south and prevent them from crossing the Yellow River."

Wu Yi then headed north, passing through Xizhou to Fenzhou, seeking an opportunity to cut off the Queshu Valley passage.

As Li Shimin spoke, he pointed out points on the map.

Li Yuan looked at the few small clay soldiers on the map and wondered, "Does Erlang intend to cut off the Sparrow and Rat Valley and then surround and annihilate the southward-bound Turkic army?"

"Your Majesty is wise and insightful, seeing through my intentions at a glance. That was indeed my plan."

The Crown Prince was hesitant to fight in Hedong and retreated all the way from Yanmen to Taiyuan. The only thing he was slightly better than Li Yuanji was that he did not take all the troops from Taiyuan with him. He fled to Puzhou, but still left Li Shenfu to lead the troops to guard Taiyuan.

If the Crown Prince were bolder, he could at least defend both Dai and Xin prefectures, if not completely.

Li Shimin, however, was not afraid of the Turks.

He wasn't just thinking about defense; he planned to join forces with Li Yi from the start to encircle and annihilate the Turkic troops marching south.

"We must not underestimate our enemy; we must be careful," Li Yuan warned.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, your son will never fight recklessly. If we can annihilate several thousand enemies in Jinzhou, we will be able to suppress their arrogance."

This forced the Turks to stop dividing their troops to plunder everywhere.

It's already Mid-Autumn Festival. If Jieli's offensive is thwarted, he won't linger until the dead of winter; he'll likely retreat in early winter.

When the Turks fought, they essentially resorted to plunder.

Now that autumn is here and the horses are fat, it's the perfect time for the Turks to raid south. But when winter comes, there will be no grass in the fields, the horses will lose weight, and the Turks will lack the ability to attack large cities. They will also have to fear the main force of the Tang army, so they will naturally retreat after they have their fill of loot.

Li Shimin was very clear-headed.

He did not propose to gather troops from all sides and march directly to Taiyuan to fight Jieli, but instead suggested a more cautious approach.
First, encircle some of their troops that have advanced southward, then concentrate your forces to annihilate a portion of the enemy. This is how you concentrate your forces on a local battlefield to achieve a local advantage. In this way, Li Shimin wouldn't need to draw too many troops.
They can still divide, encircle, and annihilate the enemy.

Accumulate small victories to achieve a great victory.

Take point arrancar.

"What methods do you have to repel the enemy in Longzhou to the west, Second Master?" Li Yuan asked.

"As far as I know, although Yusheshe and Shaboluoshe have joined forces and invaded with 100,000 troops, they have not lost important towns such as Lingzhou, Lanzhou, and Liangzhou, as well as Yuanzhou and Xiaoguan."

The Turks penetrated deep into Yuanzhou, but failed to breach the important passes. They then dispatched several thousand cavalrymen down the Longshan Mountains to launch a surprise attack on Dazhen Pass in Longzhou.
But after all, there were only a few thousand cavalrymen, so they were not a threat.

Sending a general to intercept them will suffice.

Since Yuanzhou could not be captured, the Turks dared not venture deep into the Guanzhong Plain. Now, the troops of the Liang and Ling general administrations have not suffered any losses. As long as we play it safe and do not underestimate the enemy and be ambushed or have our main force encircled and annihilated in open battle, the western route will not cause any trouble.

Longzhou was only a small enemy force, and the main force in western Yuanzhou was actually just a detachment.

The real battlefield is still in Hedong.

Hearing his second son's calm tone, Li Yuan felt much more at ease.

It would be a lie to say I'm not worried.
After all, the two routes, one from the east and one from the west, arrived too quickly and attacked too fiercely this time.

"Wu Yi, are you confident that you can cut off the Sparrow Rat Valley when you go to Fenzhou?" Li Yuan looked at Li Yi.

Li Yi supported Li Shimin's battle strategy.

There's no need to rush to Taiyuan for the final battle. Taiyuan is a fortified city with a 27-mile radius. Most of the troops from Daibei are currently in Taiyuan. Let Li Shenfu and Wang Junkuo hold it for now.

They first made a few cuts on the outside.

“Your Majesty, when Fenzhou was still called Haozhou, I fought there for more than a year and am very familiar with the place. I will cooperate well with the Prince of Qin and live up to Your Majesty’s expectations.”

(End of this chapter)