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

Chapter 597 King Qin Out of the Game
In the golden autumn of September,

Prince Qin, Li Shimin, is leading 30,000 troops on a rapid northward march to Taiyuan to meet with Khan Jieli. Meanwhile, news of the great victory at Jinzhou is being relayed south along the Fen-Jin Road towards Chang'an by urgent dispatch.

The journey from Jinzhou to Chang'an is 720 li.

Horses were changed and relayed along the way.
In just one day and one night, they galloped into the majestic city of Chang'an.

The knight inserted a bamboo pole in front of him, and the victory report written on silk was unsealed and stretched out on it.

"A great victory! A great victory at Jinzhou!"

"The King of Qin annihilated 12,000 Turkic troops in Jinzhou, beheading 3,000, capturing 9,000, and seizing more than 10,000 horses. South of Queshu Valley, the invading Turkic army was completely wiped out!"

"A great victory! A great victory! A great victory at Jinzhou!"

"The King of Qin annihilated 12,000 enemies, but lost only 72 of his own soldiers!"

···
The knights who delivered the news, carrying the brochure, made a point of announcing it loudly as they passed through the city gate.

The knight galloped past like the wind.
The scholars, farmers, and merchants who were left queuing to enter and exit the city gate stared wide-eyed.

"Was that Lubu just now?"

"Did you hear that? A great victory at Jinzhou!"

The head of the city gate guards picked his ear and said to his soldiers, "Did you hear me clearly?"

"I heard it! A great victory at Jinzhou!" said a soldier holding a spear.

"I know about the great victory at Jinzhou. I'm asking if you heard that sentence: 'The King of Qin annihilated 12,000 enemies, but lost only 72 of his own soldiers.' Did you hear that?"

"Seventy-two soldiers? I didn't hear clearly. That can't be right. Was it seven hundred and twenty, or two thousand?"

A middle-aged scholar wearing a round-necked robe chimed in, "I just heard that it was a case of losing seventy-two soldiers."

"They annihilated 12,000 enemy soldiers, but lost 72 of their own?"

Exclamations of surprise arose from all sides, especially from the guards at the city gate. They were all soldiers and knew that on the battlefield, swords and spears had no eyes. No matter how many troops there were, if the two armies clashed, it could result in rivers of blood.

How can you kill 12,000 enemies while losing 72 of your own?

"Did the enemy surrender directly?"

"What surrender? Didn't you see three thousand beheaded?"

"Perhaps it's killing prisoners?"

The burly soldier holding the spear muttered, "Do you think you're the crown prince, killing three thousand prisoners?"

Upon hearing this, the captain glared angrily at the spearman and shouted, "Shut up!"

A group of city gate guards stood there, discussing how the King of Qin managed to exchange 72 for 12,000.

I can't figure it out, I can't figure it out no matter how hard I try.

The good news went straight to the palace.

When Emperor Li Yuan saw the proclamation, he was so happy that he kept his head down as he walked, and he tripped and almost fell, but he still couldn't stop smiling.

"Summon all the prime ministers immediately."

The emperor was in a good mood and even summoned the prime ministers to the lake to discuss matters, while they floated on the dragon boat.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty."

As soon as Pei Ji, the Left Minister, boarded the ship, he offered his congratulations repeatedly.

The four prime ministers, Xiao Yu, Feng Deyi, Yang Gongren, and Chen Shuda, also had beaming faces. Recently, the prime ministers had been under great pressure, facing difficulties both internally and externally, being attacked on multiple military fronts, and on the verge of economic collapse.

The emperor had many more gray hairs.
They all looked quite haggard.

Now that another victory has come from Hedong, how can we not be happy?

"When Erlang took command, he lived up to my expectations. He is the best in the world when it comes to fighting."

"First, Wuyisha River annihilated 8,000 enemies, and now Erlang has annihilated another 12,000. Adding these together, we have annihilated 20,000 enemies."

Li Yuan stroked his beard, and the wrinkles on the old woman's face smoothed out considerably.

Pei Ji smiled and said, "Your Majesty, these two battles were fought brilliantly. I believe that we should take advantage of this great victory and immediately negotiate peace with Jieli, so that he will abide by the previous agreement and retreat to the outside of the Great Wall."

Li Yuan hesitated for a moment.

It was a rare opportunity to have Erlang Shen lead the troops, working alongside Li Yi. This battle was a resounding success, and most importantly, the Tang army suffered minimal losses in both battles.
Li Yi annihilated 8,000 enemy soldiers but suffered several hundred casualties.

Shimin annihilated 12,000 enemy soldiers while losing only 72.

Shimin and Wuyi will soon join forces in Jiexiu, at which point they will have 40,000 troops at their disposal. Combined with the troops under Zhang Lun, Li Shenfu, and others,

There would be 60,000 to 70,000 troops available.
They were fully capable of fighting the Turks.

They might even be able to defeat Jieli decisively, in which case the balance of power would shift, and the initiative would be entirely in Tang's hands.

Thinking on a larger scale, what if the people of the world capture Jieli?
If Jieli were to submit to him then, the situation would completely change.

"Your Majesty, it's time to stop while we're ahead. The rebellion in the south is still at a stalemate, and the Tuyuhun in Longyou have captured several border prefectures. We can't continue fighting the Turks. If we suffer a defeat, it will be difficult to negotiate peace."

Li Yuan stroked his beard.

I was torn.

"What are your thoughts?" Li Yuan asked, looking at Xiao Yu, Feng Deyi, and the others.

The prime ministers fell silent for a moment.

"Sealing the Prime Minister?"

“Your Majesty,” Feng Deyi, having been called upon, had no choice but to rise, “I believe that although we have won two battles, we have not yet damaged Jieli’s main force.”
We should make a cautious decision.

"It is too early to fight a decisive battle now, but it would be more prudent to take advantage of these two great victories to negotiate peace with Jieli and force him to withdraw his troops."

Xiao, Yang, and Chen basically agreed with Feng Deyi's attitude.

A prime minister must be composed and steady.

After a discussion between the emperor and his ministers,
The final result was not to press the advantage, but to negotiate peace.

In order to make peace smoothly and get Jieli to withdraw his troops as soon as possible, they even thought they could maintain the results of the last peace agreement, such as marrying Princess Changping to the grasslands and giving her an annual reward of three thousand taels of gold and two hundred thousand bolts of silk.

Even if Jieli wants more rewards, it can be agreed; getting him to withdraw his troops is the most important thing.

“Your Majesty, the area outside Yanmen Pass should remain as it is, handed over to the Turks. Yuan Junzhang can also be left untouched. The Great Wall at Yanmen Pass should still be the boundary, and neither side should invade the other,” Pei Ji said.

Li Yuan thought for a moment and nodded.

At this moment, Pei Ji said again, "Your Majesty, the suppression of the rebellion in the south is now at a stalemate, and the Prince of Hejian is unable to defeat the rebels. This old minister believes that it would be better to summon the Prince of Qin back to the capital."

He was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Jiangzhou Road Campaign, and the Prince of Qin replaced the Prince of Hejian in charge of suppressing the rebellion in Jiangnan.

Li Yuan looked at his old friend.

I saw another layer of meaning in his eyes.

At this time, the biggest obstacle to peace talks is not the Turkic Khaganate, but rather the King of Qin.

He might not want to end the war and wants to continue fighting, which would be very risky.

The King of Qin was willing to give it a try, but the court could not gamble.

Besides,

Li Yuan also did not want to fulfill that promise.

It would be better to transfer Erlang to Jiangnan to quell the rebellion, while leaving the generals of the Qin King's faction in Hedong, thus separating the generals and commanders.

"If Erlang is sent to Jiangnan to lead the pacification of the rebellion, then who will be in charge of Hedong, especially Daibei?" Li Yuan asked.

Logically, if Marshal Li Shimin leaves, his deputy should take over.

The two deputy commanders, Li Yi and Li Yuanji, one a prince and the other a duke, were ranked first and second respectively.

Under normal circumstances, Li Yi should have taken over, but the emperor still asked this question, which undoubtedly showed that he did not want to follow this procedure.

"Your Majesty, I believe that Prince Qi Yuanji can be appointed as the Grand General of Bingzhou and stationed in Taiyuan, while Duke Peng, Wang Junkuo, and Duke Xihe, Zhang Lun, can be appointed as the Chief Secretary and Military Advisor of the Grand General's Office, respectively."

"And what about Wu Yi?" Li Yuan asked again.

Pei Ji replied, "We could allow Prince Wu'an to enter the court to assist in governing, or he could return to Dingzhou to serve as the Grand Administrator."

"With the borders still unsettled, let's send Wuyi to Youzhou as Grand General, and the Prince of Lujiang to Dingzhou. The Prince of Xiangyi, Shenfu, will remain in Bingzhou to assist the Prince of Qi..."

"Prince Daoxuan of Huaiyang will be appointed as the governor of Xizhou."

"Let Liu Zheng, the Duke of Xing, go to Daizhou to serve as the governor."

On the dragon boat, the emperor and his minister sang in harmony.
They quickly arranged everything without actually asking the prime ministers.

The personnel in Hedong have undergone a complete overhaul, and the last adjustment was less than a month ago.

Feng Deyi didn't interrupt at all. He knew very well that this wasn't a question for their opinions; it must have been something the Emperor and Pei Ji had already discussed long ago.

The King of Qin is out, and Li Yi is out.

Even Li Daoxuan was eliminated.

Li Shimin, Marshal of the Jiangzhou Road Campaign; Li Yi, Grand General of Youzhou; and Li Daoxuan, Grand General of Xizhou.

Li Yuanji was appointed Marshal of the Hedong Campaign and Grand General of Bingzhou, Li Yuan was appointed Grand General of Dingzhou, Liu Zheng was appointed Grand General of Daizhou, Li Shenfu was appointed Chief Secretary of the Grand General of Bingzhou, and Zhang Lun was appointed Chief Military Advisor of the Grand General of Bingzhou.

It is obvious that those who are reaping the benefits from Li Shimin and his allies are on the side of the Eastern Palace.

"Send King Xiangwu north immediately and have Zheng Yuanzhu negotiate with Jieli as soon as possible to persuade them to withdraw their troops."

"Once a peace agreement is reached, Shimin will be allowed to return to the capital immediately."

"As soon as Jieli's troops crossed the Great Wall, the court sent someone to escort Princess Changping out of the Great Wall."

September 6th

Li Shimin left Queshu Valley and arrived at Lingshi City, where he successfully joined forces with Li Yi.

It has only been twenty days since we last parted ways.

But the situation has changed drastically.

The last time I left Beijing, the situation in Hedong was critical, and even the western vanguard of the Turks had broken into the Guanzhong Plain.

At that time, they made a pledge to defeat Jieli.

Now, in just half a month, they have already annihilated 20,000 enemy troops.

"What's going on with Jieli?"

Li Shimin smiled and said to Li Yi.

"He kept people watching, but didn't make any big moves. He set up camp under the walls of Taiyuan, but didn't attack the city or build any siege equipment. He just sent people to shout and persuade people to surrender from time to time."

I don't think Jieli intended to take Taiyuan City; he was just keeping an eye on Li Shenfu's garrison there so he could send troops to plunder the counties of Bingzhou.

Li Shimin cursed, "These damned bandits! This time, we will not let them come and go as they please. We must skin them alive!"

The two entered the city hand in hand.

The two marshals, one annihilated 8,000 enemies and the other annihilated 12,000 enemies, each beheading 3,000.

They inevitably had to compliment each other.

"Does Wu Yi have any good battle plans?" Li Shimin asked.

"Jieli still has no fewer than 100,000 followers in the Taiyuan area, making him difficult to defeat. I suggest we first weaken his forces."

We have now defeated several of his southward-bound armies, but he has also divided his forces to plunder Xishi in the west and Zelu in the east.

They only have about ten thousand men each, not many; we can try to annihilate them first.

Li Shimin nodded, agreeing with this approach.

"Taiyuan is safe for the time being, so we're not in a hurry to head north."

Although there is an urgent need to expel the barbarians, war cannot be rushed; strategic composure is essential.

"How about we split into two groups and each take down one of them?" Li Shimin said with a smile.

Zheng Yuanzhu stood by the side the whole time, but Li Shimin didn't say a word to him from the city gate to after they entered the city.

"Your Majesty, I believe that, for the sake of the overall situation, we should immediately negotiate peace with Jieli."

"I will travel north to Taiyuan tomorrow to see Jieli, and I hope that Your Majesty can suspend the attack during the peace talks."

(End of this chapter)