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

Chapter 619 The Plot at Mayi
The second day of the twelfth lunar month, Gui Mao.

It is better to seek wealth and avoid building.

"It's very cold today."

Early in the morning, Du Ruhui carried the thermos cup that Li Yi had given him into the main hall of the Shuozhou government office.

The Great Cold is the last of the twenty-four solar terms in a year. It is the extreme of cold air and is called the Great Cold.

"During the Great Cold, one must stay by the fire and not go out unless necessary."

Li Yi also picked up a thermos and said with a smile, "It should be cold when it's supposed to be cold. A good snowfall promises a good harvest. If the Great Cold isn't cold, the people and horses will be uneasy. The Great Cold should be thoroughly frozen so that the insects can freeze to death."

“This year’s weather is really cold. The Sanggan River outside Mayi City is frozen solid, and it’s snowing one snowfall after another.” Du Ruhui sat down.

Li Yi took out a packet of goji berries and added a handful to his thermos. "Brother, would you like some too?"

"Okay, I've been cooped up by the fire every day lately, and I'm getting a sore throat." Du Ruhui opened the cup and added two handfuls of water.

Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng entered one after the other. Seeing that the two men had goji berries soaking in their thermos cups, they both wanted to add more.

Wei Zheng patted the snow off his clothes.
"The snow in the north this year is really heavy. The Turks are suffering a great white disaster. As usual, they will launch a large-scale southward raid."

Li Yi was not afraid of the Turks raiding southwards.

"The imperial court has approved our plan to station troops and cultivate land in Daibei. There will be 60,000 elite troops stationed in the ten prefectures of Daibei. In addition, with the reorganized local prefectural troops and county militias, my plan with the Prince of Qin is 100,000 troops in ten prefectures."

Make sure this border fence is properly erected.

If those Turkic wolves dare to come again, we'll teach them a lesson they won't forget.

Because of a series of victories, not only are the soldiers and officers of the Hedong Army now willing to fight, but even civil officials like Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui are all clamoring to fight.

Confidence is earned through hard work.

Since we have won every battle, who would be afraid of fighting?

"I heard that when Simo arrived in Chang'an, His Majesty bestowed upon him the title of Prince of Heshun and granted him the imperial surname Li?"

"Yes, he went to court to meet the emperor, was led to the imperial bed, received warm greetings, and was granted a surname and the title of king." Li Yi nodded with a smile.

This is an open strategy.

When Li Yi sent Ashina Simo to Chang'an, he also submitted a memorial proposing to divide and weaken the Turks, suggesting that the court bestow the title of Khan upon Simo in order to divide the Turks and weaken Jieli's prestige.

When Simo arrived in Chang'an, Li Yuan did not ultimately appoint Simo as Khan, but instead bestowed upon him the title of Prince of Heshun, granted him the imperial surname Li, and appointed him as the Right Wise King of the Turks.

At the same time, an imperial edict was issued to confer upon Tuli the title of Prince of Beiping, bestow upon him the imperial surname Li, and confer upon him the title of Left Wise King of the Turks.

This is a bit interesting.

The Turks did not originally have the official title of Left and Right Wise King.

Moreover, the Turks were not vassals of the Tang Dynasty. On the contrary, since the Li family raised their army, the Turks had always maintained an attitude of being superior to the Tang Dynasty.

They always wanted the Tang Dynasty to become their vassal and pay tribute.

The two families are now at odds.

Previously, the Tang Dynasty had always been at a disadvantage, and every time it was beaten, it would sue for peace, enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens, believing that internal stability was the priority before external resistance.

But now, the wind has changed.

Under the guidance of hardline pro-war figures like Li Shimin, Li Yi, Li Daoxuan, and Li Daozong, and especially after their impressive victories against the Turks,
Li Yuan has now changed his attitude.
The marriage alliance was suspended.

Although Zheng Yuanzhu and his entourage were still sent to negotiate peace, the conditions were completely different. Before, they were seeking peace; now, the conditions were harsh, and they were no longer in a hurry to make peace.

What the Turks gave up in the past when they sought peace, they now want back.

This includes the two prefectures of Hetao and Fengsheng, and also includes prohibiting the Turks from further protecting Liang Shidu of Shuofang.

In the past, the Turks lavishly bestowed titles such as Lesser Khan, She, Tegin, and even Emperor and Son of Heaven upon various separatist forces in the Central Plains.
Now the Tang Dynasty has reversed course, beginning to bestow titles of virtuous kings upon Turkic nobles and even granting them the imperial surname of the Tang Dynasty.

This is backed by a proven track record.

Whoever is more powerful on the battlefield will have a louder voice at the negotiating table.

"What has Jieli been up to lately? Why is he all talk and no action?"

"In the dead of winter, even if there is thunder, there will be no rain."

Yuchi Gong and his five armies marched out of the pass and stirred up trouble for over a month, causing utter chaos.

They divided their forces into five routes, each with only a thousand cavalry.
They appeared and disappeared without a trace on the grasslands. Jieli was furious and mobilized troops to surround and intercept them, but instead suffered heavy losses.

Even Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin, these two old brothers, joined forces to launch a surprise attack on the Khan's court.

Although it was unsuccessful

But they had already fought their way to within twenty miles of Jieli's camp.

This gave Jieli a fright.

Since then, Jieli has deployed more troops to reinforce the camp, and dared not pursue the Tang cavalry too closely.

The order was that each unit, upon discovering the Tang cavalry's whereabouts, should first gather a sufficient number of troops before pursuing them.

However, this caused them to miss opportunities, always being a step too late.

Five thousand Tang cavalrymen roamed around the Khan's court for a long time before gradually withdrawing back to the Great Wall in early December.

These five groups of people,
Almost every group returned laden with spoils.

In total, more than 3,000 people were beheaded and more than 10,000 horses were seized. This was because it was near the Khan's court and it was not convenient to carry prisoners and livestock with them; otherwise, even more would have been captured.

This dealt another heavy blow to Jieli.
Not only did they lose many followers and horses, but most importantly, the offensive and defensive positions were reversed. In the past, the Turks would come south and plunder as they pleased, but now the Tang people had come and waged guerrilla warfare for more than a month, yet they were helpless against the Tang cavalry.

With such a huge loss, Jieli has completely lost face.

He hadn't been on the throne for very long anyway.

However, they suffered repeated defeats. First, even the Khatun was captured and killed by the Tang people, and they lost their wolf-headed banner. Now, they were even attacked at the Khan's court, and they were helpless. To make matters worse, the Tang army only had a few thousand cavalry.

Jieli certainly wanted revenge.
He issued a golden order, summoning troops from all units, eager to send them south to regain face.

but,

His messenger, carrying his golden wolf-shaped arrow, rushed to various parts of the Turkic territory.

Few responded by sending troops.

First, the Eastern Khan, Tuli, once again feigned illness and refused to come. Not only did he not come to the Khan's court, but he also refused to send troops. Last time, when Tuli was summoned to the Khan's court, he refused to come. When sent to collect taxes, Tuli refused to pay them.

They even demanded that he prohibit private trade with Tang, and that the Khan's court send someone to be in charge of the trade and tax collection, but Tuli ignored them. Tutun, who was sent to reorganize Tuli's troops, and Dagan, who was in charge of tax collection, both died.

Tuli said they ate poisonous mushrooms.

Damn it, where are they going to eat poisonous mushrooms in the dead of winter?
He was clearly killed by Tuli.

Not only did Tuli refuse to obey orders,
The various Tiele tribes in the northern desert also refused to send troops. Some said that due to the cold weather and heavy snow, they suffered a severe white disaster, and many livestock and horses froze to death, and even many of their own people froze to death, making it impossible for them to send troops.

Some say that heavy snow has blocked the roads, making it impossible to travel south.

In short, none of them were willing to come.

Even the Tuoshe and Yugushe, whom he had enfeoffed in the northern desert, refused to come.

Tuoshe Ashina She'er was the son of Chuluo Khan, the elder brother of Jieli, and the younger brother of Yusheshe. Yugushe was the son of his elder brother Shibi Khan and the younger brother of Tuli Xiao Khan.

It is unclear whether they were secretly colluding, but both of them found excuses not to send troops south.

Yusheshe, who was enfeoffed in the Hetao region and occupied fertile grasslands, also refused to come. As for Shaboluoshe, who was further west, Jieli's uncle replied that he would send his son to join forces with Liang Shidu to seize an opportunity to attack Lingzhou.

Jieli's days have been absolutely terrible.

On one side, his own Khanate's heartland was being turned upside down by several thousand Tang cavalry; on the other side, he couldn't mobilize his troops.

Although there were many Turkic tribes around the Khan's court, Jieli did not dare to lead this small force south.

If the army is defeated, then his position as Great Khan will truly be in jeopardy.

For all these reasons,

Jieli has been making quite a lot of noise lately.
They boasted of assembling 400,000 cavalry to march south, and even claimed they would divide their forces into five routes to launch a simultaneous counterattack along a front stretching thousands of miles from Hexi to Youzhou.
They wouldn't stop until they reached Chang'an.

In reality, despite all that he shouted at the Tang envoys like Zheng Yuanzhu, Jieli never actually left the Dingxiang Khanate.

The few troops he had mobilized were all gathered at the Khan's court to guard himself.

In the governor's mansion in Mayi City
Li Yi and his group are actually quite free right now.
Heavy snow in the cold winter

There's nothing much to do.

Drink tea and chat.

Li Shimin was very busy, spending his days either inspecting military camps or visiting garrison towns and fortresses to comfort the soldiers.

He would personally meet with several officers every day, and even at night, he would take turns talking with them by candlelight and sleeping side by side.

Each time he went on an inspection tour, he would also take time to meet with the local powerful clans, and he would definitely receive those who were even slightly famous.

Many local powerful families and their sons were recruited and employed by Li Shimin.

Even those former chivalrous heroes, bandits, and thieves, Li Shimin did not spare, and sent Zhang Liang, Zhang Gongjin, Liu Shiche, Ma Zhou and others to help him contact and win them over.

Li Shimin's methods of winning people over were simple, direct, and even crude; even Li Yi would have to admit that his ambition was obvious to everyone.
But the effect is indeed good.

Throughout the army, every soldier spoke highly of the King of Qin, praising his love for his troops and his compassion for them.

Even among the local powerful clans, who didn't say that the King of Qin was virtuous and capable? After all, the King of Qin had given them special treatment and made an exception by recruiting them into officialdom.

It can both restrain its followers and prevent them from harassing the local area, and it can also help the local area obtain rent and tax reductions, etc.

Everyone wished that the King of Qin would stay and govern Hedong permanently.

Currently in the Daibei Army

A large number of new officials were added from Hedong and Hebei, most of whom were recruited through the channels of Li Shimin and Li Yi, bypassing the official appointment process of the Ministry of Personnel.

They were naturally close to the King of Qin.

Even the five major Shandong families—the Wang family of Taiyuan, the Lu family of Fanyang, the Cui family of Boling, and the Li family of Zhao County—have many members who have accepted the Qin king's offer of service.

Although they may not necessarily support the King of Qin because of this, it is still a good situation.

A powerful regional military force is taking shape.

The 100,000-strong army was the skeleton, while the local powerful clans were the flesh and blood filling it in.

The King of Qin was undoubtedly the standard-bearer.

The emperor is far away and the land is high.
Many things are now much easier to do.

Snowflakes are falling outside.

Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and others also wrote poems on the theme of snow, all of which were very eloquent.

Li Yi held his thermos cup, gazing at the snow, but his thoughts drifted to the white disaster.

The Turks have suffered a great calamity this year.
Whether it's to regain face or for survival, the Turks will definitely launch a large-scale invasion next year.

The real test is about to begin.

They don't have much time left.

If Li Shimin could withstand the Turkic counterattack next year, his achievements and prestige would reach new heights.

If we can't win, we'll all be wiped out.

"Wu Yi, you should also compose a poem."

Li Yi, holding his thermos, smiled and recited a poem.
"One piece, two pieces, three or four pieces, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten pieces."

Thousands upon thousands, countless petals, all fly into the plum blossoms and disappear.

Li Shimin pushed open the door, bringing in a gust of cold wind. He patted the snowflakes off his clothes and said with a smile, "I just arrived and I heard a good poem. Wu Yi's poem doesn't contain the word 'snow,' yet it is a masterpiece. A good poem."

Behind him stood the plump Changsun Wuji, his hands clasped behind his back.
"Hmm, this poem is quite interesting."

Li Yi smiled and said, "Why doesn't the King of Qin also compose a poem?"

Li Shimin waved his hand, "I don't have the leisure for that. I have some good news. Li Daliang has persuaded Zhang Shan'an of Hongzhou to surrender, and the rebellion in Hongji and five other prefectures has been quelled."

Zhang Zhenzhou, the governor of Shuzhou, decisively defeated Chen Dangshi, a rebel general under Fu Gongshi, at Youzhou; Li Jing, the governor of Guizhou, defeated Fu Gongshi's generals at Zongyang.

The situation in Jiangnan is improving; breakthroughs have been achieved on several fronts, and good news is pouring in.

Li Shimin spoke of this good news with great enthusiasm. The emperor had summoned him south to lead the army in suppressing the rebellion, and he had taken the initiative to launch an attack on the Turks in Daibei.

If the situation in Jiangnan deteriorates, Li Shimin will surely feel guilty.

Now that the situation in Jiangnan is very good, Li Shimin has put his burdens aside.

(End of this chapter)