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

Chapter 609 Li Shimin's Three Conditions
Heavy snow fell.

The world was a vast expanse of white as Li Shimin, clad in white, entered Taiyuan.

Li Yi prepared a copper hot pot to welcome them.

On this cold day, nothing warms you up more than a lamb hot pot.

"Jieli finally couldn't sit still any longer and took the initiative to sue for peace." Li Shimin ate his hot pot mutton with great relish.

Ashina Simo came to sue for peace, but unfortunately, neither Li Yi nor Li Shimin were satisfied with what they thought were excellent terms.

"If the terms for peace talks are still set in June, then all our great victories have been for nothing? Has Jieli not woken up from his dream yet?"
"We can talk, but it has to be on our terms."

A month has passed since the Battle of Jinci.

Li Shimin was calmly searching for an opportunity to strike, but unfortunately Jieli was hiding behind the three passes, issuing challenges every day, yet far from Taiyuan, so there was no chance to launch a sneak attack, and Jieli did not come to the battle.

Both sides are waiting for the other to reveal a weakness, and both want the other to take the initiative to attack.
They are all very tolerant.

The snow was falling heavily, and the weather was freezing cold.

Li Yi added another plate of mutton to the pot.
Both of them have big appetites; neither of them cooks the food piece by piece, but rather they cook it plate by plate.

"That old dog Jieli is quite patient; he barks loudly but shrinks back far away. It seems this battle is not going to happen."

"Well, let's negotiate peace then." Li Shimin nodded. This battle at Jinci had already turned out to be surprisingly good.

Once Jieli withdraws his troops, the Tang army can also take the opportunity to eliminate Yuan Junzhang.

In these several major battles with Jieli Daibei, the Turks suffered considerable losses, but the greater losses actually went to Yuan Junzhang, who not only suffered heavy casualties several times, but also lost the city of Mayi.

When the Tang Dynasty and the Turks, two powerful forces, were locked in a battle, Yuan Junzhang, caught in the middle, was the first to be wiped out.

This is also inevitable.

After Liu Wuzhou's death, the small separatist force in Daibei lost Yanmen and Loufan, leaving only Yunshuo and other prefectures. With a sparse population and insufficient funds and supplies, it struggled in the cracks. How long could it hold on?

"I heard that Yuan Junzhang's son, Yuan Xiaozheng, surrendered earlier?"

"Yes, Yuan Xiaozheng advised his father to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, but Yuan Junzhang hesitated. So he came south alone to surrender. Yuan Junzhang sent troops to bring him back and put him under house arrest in Yunzhong City. Not long ago, he found an opportunity to escape from Yunzhong City and came south to surrender. This man is quite insightful and knows that the general trend is irreversible, but unfortunately Yuan Junzhang is still stubbornly unrepentant."

"However, I've talked to him a few times, and I feel that Yuan Junzhang is also somewhat wavering. It's just that under Jieli's watchful eye, he's temporarily unable to control his own destiny. If the time is right, he won't resist to the end."

These separatists, now facing the inevitable trend, will either surrender or resist and be destroyed; they can no longer maintain their separatist rule.

Add broth to the pot.

Add some vegetables, but unfortunately this is Taiyuan, and there aren't many fresh vegetables available at this time of year. All we have are winter melon, radish, and cabbage, along with some wood ear mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms.
Tofu, dried bean curd sticks, bean curd sheets, bean sprouts,
There are also the Li family's specialty sweet potato vermicelli and potato noodles.

Just eat it as is.

Ashina Simo, the great-grandson of Tumen Khan and uncle of Jieli, had been ignored by Li Yi for three days. He was quite frustrated, as he couldn't even get an audience with Li Yi after arriving. He handed over a letter from Jieli Khan, along with the Turkic peace terms.
All we can do now is wait day by day.

Also of the same generation as Jieli's uncle, Shaboluoshe Ashina Sunishi was able to establish a tribe of fifty thousand tents in the northwest of Yaling Prefecture.

Ashina Simo, however, had always been just a junior officer, and none of the successive Khans had ever granted him the title of "She" or established a chieftainship.

Now we even have to put up with this bullshit.

I heard that Prince Qin, Li Shimin, has arrived in Taiyuan.
Simo hurriedly came to request an audience, only to be relegated to a cold bench for over an hour. Simo, however, was not particularly bothered by the cold.

But this cold reception was truly embarrassing.

"Ashina Simo!"

Finally, someone called him.

He quickly stepped forward.

The Tang military officer who called him looked him up and down several times. "Are you Ashina Simo, the Turkic envoy of Jieli Khan, seeking peace?"

"I am Ashina Simo, the great-grandson of Ilqab Khan, the founding Khan of the Turkic Khaganate, and the uncle of the current Khagan, Jieli. I have come here on the Khan's orders to negotiate peace with the Tang Dynasty."

The Tang general said, "You don't look like a member of the Lang family at all; you look like a Sogdian barbarian."

Simo's life was ruined by this kind of "barbarian" appearance. His mother was a Sogdian slave girl who was favored by his father, Dulushe. However, he was born with a barbarian face, and from then on, he was cursed as a bastard by the Turks.

Over the years, this has become a lingering pain in his heart, and he has even been marginalized in the Khanate because of his appearance.

Even though Shibi Khan once trusted him greatly, he never allowed him to leave the town to establish his own military headquarters.

Simo clenched his fists, suppressing his anger.

"The King of Qin and the King of Wu'an wish to see you. Come with me."

Simo entered the warm room.
The aroma of mutton filled the air.
Inside the room, a copper pot sat on a table, with charcoal burning underneath and meat simmering inside.

But judging from the looks of it
Li Shimin and Li Yi had just finished eating.

"Simo, Jieli issues challenges every day, yet dares not come to fight. What is the reason for this?"
Go back and tell Jieli that I, Li Shimin, have arrived in Taiyuan with 100,000 elite Tang troops.

They came to accept the challenge.

"If Jieli wants war, then let it be. If he doesn't dare to fight, then stop barking and get back to the grasslands."

Simo stood there, at a loss for words after hearing this.

After Li Shimin finished speaking, he ignored him and waved his hand, "You may leave."

Simo gritted his teeth,

"Your Highness, the King of Qin, my Great Khan also wishes to turn hostility into friendship and restore our former amicable relations..."

"Stop," Li Shimin turned his head and interrupted him, "There's no use in talking nonsense. If Jieli wants to fight, then let him fight. I'll be waiting for him here."

If he wants peace, then he must comply with the terms of my Great Tang Dynasty.

Li Yi then stood up with a smile.

"Jiabi Teqin, I won't let you make a wasted trip. The terms of the peace agreement are actually quite simple. First, the Turks must not cross the border to invade our Great Tang again. Second, the Turks must not interfere in the internal affairs of our Central Plains. Yuan Junzhang of Daibei and Liang Shidu of Shuofang are all internal affairs of our Central Plains. The Turks must not protect them anymore, nor obstruct the Great Tang from unifying Daibei and Shuofang."

Thirdly…

Li Yi picked up the teapot and poured a cup for Li Shimin and himself, but not for Simo.

"Thirdly, the Turks returned the two prefectures of Hetao and Fengsheng, handed over Empress Xiao and Yang Zhengdao of the previous dynasty, and released the Han people who had been captured and taken to the border over the years."

"From now on, the Turks will pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty with 10,000 horses every year, and the Tang Dynasty will reward the Turks with 200,000 bolts of silk. The Tang and Turks can then open trade along their border."

"These are the three conditions. If we can negotiate, Jieli will form an alliance, make an oath, sign a treaty, and inscribe a stone tablet if he can do so."

Simo frowned.

The conditions offered by Li Tang were vastly different from those offered by Jieli.

They didn't even mention the marriage alliance.

Whether it's mentioned or not is no longer important.

Simo felt the conditions were too far off, and that Jieli would never agree.

"King Qin, King Wu'an, our Turkic people sincerely wish to negotiate peace. We urge the Great Tang to offer truly sincere terms."

Li Yi interrupted him, "I know you can't make the decision, so go back to Shiling Pass immediately to report to Jieli."

This winter is colder than usual, and you hundreds of thousands of people are still stuck here starving? Hurry up and get Jieli to negotiate, then withdraw your troops and go hibernate beyond the Great Wall.

"If we stay any longer, we don't even know if we'll be able to go back."

Smo had no choice but to retreat.
That very day, he led his men through wind and snow to rush back to Shiling Pass, more than a hundred miles away.

Jieli waited for five days.

Only after seeing Smo return,

"How did the talks go? Did Li Shimin agree?" Jieli asked as soon as they met.

Simo's body was half frozen stiff.

Before he could even take a sip of his hot milk tea, he exclaimed, "My goodness, I waited three days in Taiyuan before I finally saw Li Shimin and Li Yi!"
But they hadn't even had a cup of tea's time to meet before they finally met.

Li Shimin and Li Yi adopted a very firm stance, stating that if it was war, then war would be fought; if it was peace, then peace would be made according to their terms.

As he spoke, he relayed the conditions proposed by Li Yi.

Jieli still held a sliver of hope, hoping to take advantage of the situation, negotiate a peace, and withdraw his troops.

"The Tang people are so arrogant and presumptuous. Do they really think I wouldn't dare to start a war?"

Ashina Duobi roared angrily, and in his rage, kicked a servant girl who was crawling nearby away.

"Since they want war, then let them fight. Issue the order to march south to Taiyuan tomorrow."

Simo quickly advised, "Your Majesty, Li Shimin has already gathered 100,000 troops and is converging on the Taiyuan area. Today, with the weather so cold and the snow so heavy, it is really not suitable for a major battle."

The troops are eager to return home, morale is low, and the fighting spirit is dampened. We urge the Great Khan to reconsider.

Jieli trembled with anger.

"This is outrageous! Those two traitors, Li Shimin and Li Yi, are far too arrogant!"

Get Jieli to agree to those peace terms.
Wouldn't that mean that after being slapped hard on the left cheek, you'd offer your right cheek to be slapped again by the Tang people?

Such a peace negotiation,
What will become of his prestige in the future?

"Great Khan, why not use the cold weather as an excuse to withdraw our troops directly, without having to negotiate with the Tang people? We can regroup our forces and make a comeback next year."

Whether or not there is peace talks is not important to us.

We cannot leave troops to garrison the Xin, Dai, and Wei prefectures that we now occupy. Even if we hand them over to Yuan Junzhang, he would not be able to hold them.

If we retreat directly, will Li Shimin dare to cross the Great Wall to pursue us?

If he dares to pursue us, that would be our opportunity.

Simo's words made Jieli's eyes light up.

Indeed.

Each time the Turks invaded the Central Plains,

Even if they conquer a city, they won't occupy it for long. They are a nomadic people; they come south to plunder, not to conquer.

Those fortified cities and important towns in the Central Plains were also difficult to attack.

The consensus among the various Turkic tribes was to plunder southwards and then return to the grasslands.

Since negotiations are not going to work out, then let's not negotiate. If they don't want to fight, then let's not fight. They can just withdraw. Anyway, the Turks naturally have the advantage and can advance or retreat at will.

Would Li Shimin dare to pursue him to the Great Wall?
Jieli really hoped they would leave the border.

We suffered a great loss this time, but we can rest and recuperate for the winter, and then come back next year.

We'll find a way to save face later.

"Simo is still the most resourceful and wise."

Simo even prepared a way for him to retreat: the weather was cold and the snow was heavy, and the soldiers longed to go home.

"Simo, you will lead 10,000 men from the Sogdian, Xi, and Khitan tribes to guard the three passes with Yuan Junzhang. I will lead the army back to the Khan's court first, and then you will lead the army out of Yanmen Pass after the main army has crossed the border."

Then they stationed themselves in Mayi, spending the winter there in preparation for the Tang army to cross the border and attack Mayi.

"Sima, you are loyal to the Khanate. My father and brothers have always praised you. Do a good job. Next year I will lead the army back and take Taiyuan. I will then bestow upon you the title of Duolushe." Jieli painted a rosy picture for his uncle.

(End of this chapter)