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

Chapter 586 Qin King's Party

"uncle."

On the Mid-Autumn Festival, Li Yi brought gifts to visit his maternal uncle Zhang He, his uncle Prince Yi'an Li Xiaochang, his senior brother Wei Zheng, and Sun Fujia, among others.

"You're here, why bring so much stuff?"

Zhang Daoyuan led his sons to the door to greet his nephew.

Li Yi arrived with several cartloads of gifts, including Osmanthus Ball Crystal Rice, Nanshan Bamboo Paper, Fine White Cotton Cloth, Persimmon Liquor, and other Li family specialties, piled high.

"It was my uncle who got into trouble, and I've come to apologize."

Zhang Daoyuan had previously left the capital with Li Yi to take up a post in Hebei. Li Yi was the Grand Administrator of Mingzhou, while Zhang Daoyuan was the Grand Administrator of Xiangzhou. He performed quite well in Xiangzhou, but the Crown Prince had previously sent Li Yi back to Chang'an on suspicion of treason. Zhang Daoyuan was also implicated and was transferred back to Chang'an by the Crown Prince.

He just received his appointment as Minister of the Imperial Stud, so staying in Chang'an from now on is a good idea.

Welcoming guests in, they enjoy tea in the main hall.

Li Yi has taken good care of Zhang Hao and several of his cousins ​​in the past two years, and they have all made meritorious contributions and entered officialdom.

Zhang He, Li Yi's cousin, was closer to him than Li Yi's other uncles because their families were more closely related. Li Yi also helped his other uncles, but they weren't very close.

"Wu Yi, have you now completely sided with the King of Qin?"

Zhang He dismissed his sons, leaving only the two of them in the hall. He spoke bluntly and directly, "The Prince of Qin is only a prince, while the Crown Prince is the heir apparent. You are now offending the Crown Prince and openly supporting the Prince of Qin. Your uncle is worried about you."

Li Yi picked up his teacup and said with a wry smile, "Uncle, I was also caught up in this; I had no choice."

Zhang He bluntly stated, "I have observed that the Crown Prince has been trying to win you over, but why have you consistently refused and instead taken the initiative to get close to the King of Qin?"

He even suspected that his nephew, who had been a Taoist priest, might know physiognomy or something similar, and that's why he predicted that the King of Qin would become emperor.

Li Yi didn't know how to explain it, so he could only say that they were compatible in personality.

“I have recommended my uncle to the Emperor to be the Chief Secretary of the Dingzhou Grand General’s Office, so that he can go to Dingzhou to assist Prince Li Yuan of Lujiang.”

Zhang He said, "Staying in Chang'an as the Minister of the Imperial Stud is not bad either."

"In this battle in Hedong, we also have to guard against the Turks sending troops to invade Hebei. Neither the King of Qin nor I have much faith in the King of Lujiang. We must defend Feihu Pass and Puyin Pass well."

After my uncle returns to Hebei, I will need your assistance in commanding the Dingzhou army to march out of the Taihang Mountains and garrison Weizhou, thus containing the Northern Turkic army from the side.

"We will try our best to keep Li Yuan in Chang'an for the time being, while my uncle goes to Dingzhou to take charge of the overall situation."

Zhang Daoyuan smiled and said, "I'm just a scholar, why do you trust me so much?"

"Uncle, when it comes to leading troops into battle, you can entrust it to generals Qin Wutong, Li Xuantong, Wang Xingmin, Liu Jun, and Xue Zhong."

Li Yi and Li Shimin needed someone who could unify their strategies and advance and retreat together, but Li Yuan was weak and incompetent and could never shoulder such a great responsibility.

"By doing this, you've dragged me onto the Qin King's chariot as well," Zhang Daoyuan said with a wry smile, knowing all too well how dangerous it was to be involved in this struggle for the throne.

"That's enough. My old bones don't have more than two years left to live. I'll go back to Hebei to hold out for a while, and then I'll return to Chang'an after we defeat the Turks."

After finishing a pot of tea,

Li Yi then got up to take his leave.

"Knowing you still have many places to visit, I won't keep you any longer." Zhang Daoyuan saw him to the door.

"Uncle, please wait. This time, I would like to have my cousin Zhang Hao accompany my army north again. I wonder if you would agree?"

“Ah Hao has been following you for the past two years and has already reached the sixth rank. He has indeed gained valuable experience. If you think he is good, then take him along.”

"I'll have to trouble you again, Uncle, about Dingzhou."

"Rest assured, the Dingzhou Grand General's Office will fully cooperate with the Hedong Campaign."

After Li Yi left

Zhang Daoyuan also called his sons over.

Zhang Hao presented a gift list, saying, "These several truckloads of things my cousin sent are quite valuable."

"Take it. No one can say anything if a nephew gives his uncle a Mid-Autumn Festival gift."

Although Zhang He was granted the title of Duke of Fanyang and held the official rank of a third-grade noble, he lived a frugal life, always using his salary to help relatives and neighbors.

In the past two years, with Li Yi's help, Zhang Hao and his brothers have had smooth careers, which has greatly improved the Zhang family's financial situation.

“I am about to return to Hebei to serve as the Chief Secretary of the Dingzhou Grand General’s Office, while Dalang will go to Bingzhou with Wuyi.”

This news made the Zhang brothers very happy.

The fact that the Governor-General of Xiangzhou returned to serve as Minister of the Imperial Stud was clearly a demotion. Now, he has returned to Hebei as the Chief Secretary of the Grand Governor's Office of Dingzhou, still in charge of the Grand Governor's Office's affairs, which means he has been given important responsibilities again.

"Father, is my cousin going to side with the King of Qin? Is our family going to side with the King of Qin too?"

Zhang He picked up his teacup and said, "I, Zhang Daoyuan, am an official of the imperial court."

Zhang Hao asked his father, "Why is my brother so determined to support the King of Qin and abandon the Crown Prince? Can my brother truly see through the secrets of heaven?"

Zhang Daoyuan glared at his son and said, "Everyone has their own choices. It's his business how your brother chooses."

“But Father is Wu Yi’s maternal uncle. They share the same fate. This time, when the Crown Prince dismissed Wu Yi and sent him back to the capital, didn’t it also implicate Father? He was dismissed from his post as the governor of Xiangzhou and demoted back to the capital to be the Minister of the Imperial Stud?”
"But now that the King of Qin is highly valued, not only has Wu Yi been appointed as the deputy commander of the expeditionary force and the Grand General of Bingzhou, but Father has also been appointed as the Chief Secretary of the Grand General's Office of Dingzhou, right?" Zhang Hao did not think so.

Zhang Daoyuan said in a low voice, "Just do your best."

Li Yi arrived at Yongyefang to visit his senior brother, Wei Zheng.

Wei Zheng's residence remained largely unchanged; the main hall was still a thatched cottage, and vegetables were planted in the garden.

Pei was holding a little boy. "Quickly call him Uncle." Wei Zheng and his wife were dressed simply, and their son was a little thin.

Among the gifts Li Yi sent were two dairy goats. "Sister-in-law, you can have the servants milk the goats every day for my little nephew to eat."

Wei Zheng stroked his beard and said, "You always bring so many things every time you come. You're too kind. This house of mine was even given to me by you."

When Wei Zheng invited Li Yi to drink tea, it was elm leaf tea, which was made by Pei himself.

"Senior brother, what do you think of the position of Secretary Assistant?" Li Yi asked with a smile.

“That’s good, now you can study in peace,” Wei Zheng said.

Last time, when Liu Shirang was suspected of colluding with the enemy and plotting a rebellion in the palace, he spoke out and strongly advised the court not to make a hasty decision. As a result, the emperor dismissed him from his positions as Right Vice Minister of the Grand Secretariat of Shaanxi East Circuit and Secretary of the Tiance Mansion, and demoted him to the sinecure of Secretary Assistant.

"This time we need to ask my senior brother to come out of seclusion. These leisurely days of studying are coming to an end."

Wei Zheng was reinstated as Secretary of the Tiance Mansion and Right Vice Minister of the Shaanxi East Circuit, and was also appointed Secretary of the Hedong Army.

“Alright.” Wei Zheng was not resistant to going to the battlefield. “The Turks fear power but do not appreciate kindness. The court only wants to negotiate peace. Peace cannot be achieved through marriage alliances and rewards. It will only feed Jieli’s insatiable greed.”

“I think so too,” Li Yi nodded.

Elm leaf tea is made from tender leaves that have been dried and steamed. It is served with salt and has a milder flavor than compressed tea.

“It’s a pity that Liu Shirang was wrongfully killed,” Wei Zheng said frankly. “If the Crown Prince hadn’t gone to Yanmen to interfere, with you and Liu Shirang in Daibei, Mayi would not have been lost, Gao Manzheng would not have died, and Yanmen would not have been lost.”

"Now the court is sending you out to fight against the Turks again. Although it is better late than never, the devastation in Daibei has already caused too much damage."

How confident are you about this trip north?

"It all depends on human effort, but the King of Qin is very confident in defeating the Turks, so I don't think it's a big problem. The Turks have always just been raiding southwards; they don't really want to seize the cities and lands within the pass."
They will retreat once they can annihilate a few thousand of their men.

Wei Zheng sighed, "Now the Turks invade every year, sometimes even several times a year. From Hexi to Youyan, the thousands of miles of northern border have long been riddled with holes. They can come and go as they please."
Now they've even penetrated deep into Guanzhong.

"Don't worry, in a few years, our Great Tang will be able to launch a counterattack, invade the Khanate of the North, sweep away all their strongholds, and capture Jieli to dance at the palace banquet," Li Yi said.

Wei Zheng smiled and didn't take those words too seriously.

The Turks of today are indeed riding on the neck of the Tang Dynasty, barely able to defend themselves, let alone sweep away its strongholds.

"The rebellion in Jiangnan is still at a stalemate. The court is besieged on both sides and must end the war in the north as soon as possible."

Otherwise, fighting on two fronts, the collapse of either front would be a disaster,” Wei Zheng warned.

Li Yi nodded, "I think that with Li Xiaogong, Li Jing, Li Shiji, Li Daliang, Ren Gui, Zhang Zhenzhou, Zhou Faming, Lu Zushang and others in the south, we should be able to quickly open up the situation and quell the rebellion."

Wei Zheng, however, did not share this view.

"Li Xiaogong, the Prince of Hejian, was not actually good at commanding troops. He relied mainly on Li Jing, Xu Shao and others to pacify Jiangling and other places."

They mainly had soldiers from the south, lacking the elite troops from Guanzhong and Henan.

Li Yi didn't discuss the Jiangnan battlefield with Wei Zheng much. Although Fu Gongshi and Zhang Shan'an were quite powerful now, they were ultimately no match for the Tang Dynasty.

Xiao Xian, Wang Shichong, Dou Jiande, Xu Yuanlang, Li Zitong, Lin Shihong and others were all defeated one by one. How could they possibly be a match for the Tang Dynasty? Temporary setbacks would not affect the overall situation.

After leaving Wei Zheng's house, Li Yi went to his senior brother Sun Fujia's residence.

He topped the list of successful candidates in the imperial examinations at the beginning of the year, becoming the first Zhuangyuan (top scholar) after the Tang Dynasty began its imperial examinations.

He was also promoted from Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice to Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

When will you leave Beijing and head north?

"I will leave tomorrow."

Sun Fujia frowned. "So urgent?"

"The Turkic invasion this time is indeed fierce, and their vanguard has already reached Jinzhou. The Crown Prince has retreated all the way to Puzhou. In this northern region, there is no one to command, and everyone is fighting independently, a disorganized mess. They can only retreat to defend the major cities and dare not stop the Turks, allowing them to plunder at will."

"The entire Hedong region is now trembling under the iron hooves of the Turks; there's no time to lose," Li Yi said bluntly.

Sun Fujia was also dissatisfied with the Crown Prince, saying, "It was not you who provoked the border conflict and ruined the peace agreement, leading to another invasion by the Turks. It was the Crown Prince who destroyed his own Great Wall, causing the situation to deteriorate to this point."

Sun Fujia is skilled in law, but now he has also submitted a memorial requesting to go to Hedong to fight the Turks.

"I thought that after defeating the warlords Xue Ju, Li Gui, Wang Shichong, Xiao Xian, Dou Jiande, Li Mi, Li Zixiong, Lin Shihong, and other powerful figures, the world would finally be unified, and the people could once again live in peace."
But who could have foreseen that the Turks would invade year after year, and that local rebellions would break out everywhere?
Who knows when peace will come?

"It will be soon, in three to five years, and the world will surely be at peace," Li Yi comforted Sun Fujia.

Sun Fujia, however, was somewhat pessimistic. "I think it will take at least ten years to pacify the Central Plains. Right now, there are Fu Gongshi and Zhang Shan'an in Jiangnan, and the chieftains of the Li Liao tribe are rebelling in Lingnan. In the north, there are also two separatist forces: Liang Shidu in Shuofang and Yuan Junzhang in Daibei."

It will be difficult to quell these forces within ten years.

The Turks had hundreds of thousands of archers, making them even more difficult to defeat. It might take twenty years to suppress the Turks and stabilize the border.

Perhaps my generation will not live to see the day when the Turks submit, pay tribute, and sue for peace!

Li Yi thought that historically, Liang Shidu was not pacified until the second year of the Zhenguan era, while Yuan Junzhang surrendered to the Tang Dynasty in the first year of the Zhenguan era.

The Later Sui dynasty in Dingxiang surrendered to the Tang dynasty only after Li Jing captured Jieli and destroyed the Eastern Turks in the fourth year of the Zhenguan era. Yang Zhengdao and Empress Xiao were among those who surrendered.

If history had followed its original trajectory, it would have taken another six or seven years to unify the Central Plains and another eight or nine years to defeat the Turks.

But history has changed now. For example, Liu Heita did not rebel against the Tang Dynasty, and Gao Kaidao, Xu Yuanlang and others did not make any waves and have been defeated.

Therefore, he had reason to believe that it would not take eight or nine years, but three years should be enough to destroy the Turks.

This time, returning to Hedong and then to Daibei, Li Yi had no intention of engaging in small-scale skirmishes, capturing or killing two or three thousand people, and then negotiating peace with the Turks. Now that he had received Li Yuan's edict to wage war, and with the Prince of Qin backing him up, he naturally had to go all out.
If we don't capture and kill 10,000 Turks, will Jieli ever know the pain?

(End of this chapter)