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

Chapter 624 Jieli is in the Trap

In the dead of night,

Khagan Jieli suddenly awoke from a nightmare.

Inside the Golden Wolf's tent, the charcoal fire was still burning, and a row of Wolf Guards stood guard, wearing iron lamellar armor underneath and rope armor on top, holding long spears and standing like statues.

Jieli was panting heavily, his head covered in sweat.

Since the Battle of Jinci, Jieli has often had nightmares, and often finds it difficult to wake up from them, as if he were being paralyzed by a ghost.

"water."

Jieli sat there with wide eyes, his throat hoarse as he uttered a single word.

In one corner of the tent, several Han Chinese servants were kneeling. Upon hearing the sound, one of them immediately got up and poured a cup of warm water for Jieli.

Jieli picked up the glass and took a sip, but then kicked the frail maid over.

"Sweet water".

The maid was kicked and rolled over again, but dared not utter a sound. Recently, the Khan had been in a bad temper and would beat and scold the servants at the drop of a hat. Many servants had even been beaten to death for the slightest thing.

Immediately, another maidservant poured another cup of warm water, added honey to it, and carefully presented it to Jieli.

Jieli took the drink, drank a sip, and then kicked the maid over.

He smashed the glass. "I want sweet water with frosting sugar, not honey. Water with honey is honey water, sweet water is water with frosting sugar, you damn idiots."

Another maid hurried to fetch the frosting sugar, but in her nervousness, she accidentally knocked over the porcelain jar of frosting sugar.

Jieli roared, "Take them all out and behead them! These damned idiots can't even do this simple thing right, what use are they?"

Do you know how much that porcelain jar is worth? It's a piece of green porcelain from the Gongxian kiln in Luoyang, made by He Chou himself. I traded ten good horses for it.

And that jar of frosting sugar, it was brought from the distant Western Regions by Sogdian merchants, originally from India. This jar of frosting sugar was also traded for ten horses.

You damned, lowly slaves!

Amidst Jieli's angry curses,

The statue-like armored wolf guards moved, pouncing on several terrified, begging slave girls, dragging them out of the tent like eagles snatching chicks.

"Great Khan, spare my life!"

Jieli ignored their pleas for mercy.
The three maids were dragged away.

The remaining female slaves in the tent were trembling.
Jieli glanced at them and waved his hand impatiently, "Drag all of them out and behead them too, and bring in a batch of smarter ones."

When the newly arrived maid finally brought him a cup of Indian sugar imported from the Western Regions, Jieli suddenly didn't want to drink it anymore.

"Bring me some wine, and I'd like some persimmon liquor."

The tallow lamp was burning.

Jieli drank alone in silence.

He poured himself a full glass of green porcelain wine, tilted his head back, and downed the entire glass of wine—two ounces.

The persimmon burns as it goes down your throat.
My stomach immediately felt like it was on fire.
Her face was also flushed.

He let out a long breath.
I poured another glass.
Start drinking this cup slowly.

When he poured the third glass, he was no longer in a hurry to drink it.

He started to sit there and think.

After two drinks, I was completely awakened from the nightmare, and my mind became exceptionally clear.

He was the Great Khan of the Turks.

The Turks commanded a million archers, spanning thousands of miles east and west.

He should be the most powerful man in the world today. The emperor in the south has to bow down to him, send his princess to him for a marriage alliance, and pay tribute every year.

That long border stretching for thousands of miles, those dozens of border prefectures, should have been the pastures of the Turks. When the autumn harvest was plentiful and the horses were fat, they could gather together and march south to plunder.

It was like a grand hunting expedition.

What angered him was that even though Emperor Li Yuan of the Central Plains had bowed his head and begged for peace, Li Yi refused to comply and repeatedly defied Li Yuan's orders to send troops to attack.

The Battle of Fanzhi, the Battle of Huanghualing, and then the Battle of Jinci.

They even sent cavalry to attack the vicinity of the Khan's court.

Emperor Li Yuan of the Central Plains was the one who knew what was good for him.
Crown Prince Li Jiancheng was also not bad; he was a weak and cowardly man.

But how did someone as stubborn as Li Yi come along?

Now Li Shimin has also come to Daibei and won't leave.

What's even more infuriating is that Li Yuan actually dared to confer upon Tuli the title of Left Wise King of the Turks and also bestow upon him the title of Prince of Beiping of the Great Tang Dynasty.

They then sent Simo, whom they had captured in Mayi, to Chang'an, and bestowed upon him the title of Right Wise King of the Turks and the title of Prince of Heshun.

He also bestowed the surname Li upon both Tuli and Simo.

Outrageous.

They were from the Ashina clan; one was a minor khan, and the other was a Tegin, both direct descendants of the Ili khan.

But now they have the surname of a Tang person?
Two traitors who have forgotten their ancestors.

They were once the noble Blue Turks, but now they recognize the Tang people as their masters.

I've known for a long time that Simo isn't a true member of the Ashina family of the Turks; he looks like a Sogdian, so he's a bastard.

I had trusted him so much, but it was all for nothing.

Shibobi was also a traitor; he refused to come south on several occasions and continued to trade with the Tang people.

Now that he has been summoned to the Khan's court, he has been claiming illness and refusing to come.

He sent officials from the Khan's court to take over military power, tax collection, and trade, but they died under mysterious circumstances.

This guy has rebelled.

Jieli drank the third cup of wine.

As the alcohol took effect, his head became dizzy and he fell asleep.

the next morning,
Jieli summoned his trusted Dagans for a meeting, but they were all of the Hu ethnic group and there were no Lan Turks among them.

He didn't even call the Ashina family's special agents.

Da Guan Kang Su Mi said, "Si Mo has already surrendered to the Tang Dynasty."

Kang Alida said, "I heard that Li Yuan had bestowed upon him the title of Prince of Heshun, and he accepted the bestowal of the surname Li. Li Yuan even married him a princess from the imperial clan, and also gave him a mansion and servants in Chang'an. He was naturally happy to accept it."

Jieli didn't want to talk much about Smo.

When you're in Chang'an, whether the surrender is real or fake is no longer important.

The important one is Tuli. "Tuli refused to come to the Khan's court with my Golden Wolf Command Arrow, and the Khan's officials sent to the east all died under mysterious circumstances."

Now Li Yuan has bestowed upon him the titles of Grand Pillar of State, Prince of Beiping, and Left Wise King of the Turks; this means he has also pledged allegiance to the Tang.

"This Khan will send troops to conquer Tuli."

Asilandagan said, "Perhaps this is a divisive tactic used by the Tang people. We have used divisive tactics against the Tang people before, such as bestowing the title of Southern Minister upon Li Yi. It's just that this guy is very cautious."

However, Li Yuan fell for Li Zhongwen's divisive tactic and executed him. We also played a part in Liu Shirang's death.

"If this is a divisive tactic by the Tang people, then sending troops against Tuli would be exactly what they're planning."

Kangsumida glared at him. "If it really is a scheme by the Tang people to sow discord, does Tuli not have a mouth and know how to defend himself?"

But to this day, he hasn't uttered a single word in his defense.

Even when the Khan summoned him, he refused to come. And every time he marched south, he would find an excuse not to send troops.

They had been secretly trading with the Tang people.

I believe he secretly surrendered to the Tang Dynasty long ago, and now that we've suffered several defeats, he's openly rebelling, hoping to seize the Great Khan's throne.

"We must send troops to punish this traitor; we must not give him the chance."

The group of Dagans did not agree on anything.

However, most people believed that Tuli was colluding with the Tang Dynasty and was disloyal to the Khan, and therefore deserved to be punished.

A group of Sogdian Hudagans also shouted that internal pacification must come before external resistance.

None of them suggested sending troops to attack the Tang Dynasty in the south.
On the contrary, it is difficult for them to reach a consensus.

They believed that the minor khans and sheikhs who had been enfeoffed in various regions were not obedient to their orders. Especially now, it was imperative to restore the authority of the Great Khan.

The way to revitalize the nation is not to march south and defeat Li Shimin and Li Yi.
Instead, they dealt with the young Khan Tuli, who dared to openly disobey the Khan's orders.

Kill the chicken to scare the monkey.

“Great Khan, I believe there is no need for you to personally lead troops to attack Tuli.” Kang Alidagan offered a plan, “I have a plan to subdue Tuli.”

"Oh, tell me about it."

"Great Khan, Tuli resides in the eastern part of the Khanate and governs the Khitan, Xi, and Mohe tribes. Great Khan, you may send people to collect taxes and conscript soldiers from these tribes in the name of Tuli Khan, claiming that you are collecting the taxes on behalf of Tuli Khan."
At that time, the various tribes will surely resent it.

The Great Khan then ordered Tuli Khan to send troops to suppress the various tribes…

Jieli frowned as he listened.
It's too complicated, too troublesome, and it might not even be effective.

What he wanted was to teach Tuli a lesson immediately, to make an example of him, and to let the other She people who were enfeoffed in various places in the Khanate, as well as the Jielifa, Sijin, and others of various tribes, see clearly what would happen if they dared to oppose the Khan.

He wanted to lead his troops to defeat Tuli, then publicly whip and punish Tuli, and even depose him from his position as a minor khan.

There is a saying in the Central Plains: "Rewards should not be delayed, and punishments should not be imposed by reassignment."

This Khan doesn't have that much time to slowly fuss over things.

We must defeat him with overwhelming force and punish him.

Jieli decided that this winter, he would personally lead tens of thousands of troops to the east to attack Tuli.

Besides the lesson learned from Suli,

Jieli had another objective in sending troops this time: to seize food from the east.

Heavy snow caused a white disaster.

Even the Jieli tribe, which occupied the most fertile grasslands of the Chulechuan Plain at the foot of the Yinshan Mountains, suffered severe losses.

In the past, when faced with this situation, the immediate response would have been to head south and plunder.

But now, Li Shimin and Li Yi are stationed in Daibei, and Yuan Junzhang has led his troops to surrender to Tang.

Tang troops were stationed along the Great Wall.
How could Jieli Khan dare to easily march south?

The Battle of Jinci still haunts him with nightmares.

They cannot go south to plunder.
Then we'll have to find someone else to replace them.

After much deliberation, the only options were to take action against the Tiele in the northern desert or the Tuli in the east.

Between the Tiele tribes and the Tuli, Jieli planned to deal with the Tuli first.

He felt that Tuli was young and should be easier to manage.

After dealing with the Tuli and replenishing our supplies, we'll deal with the Tiele. First, we'll deal with the Sijie tribe. That old dog Sijie Awen dared to withdraw his troops without permission last time, and this autumn he didn't follow orders to go south again. He must be severely punished.

One by one, they were packed up.

Re-establish the Khan's authority

The Khanate integrated the various Turkic tribes, and as Kangsumi and his followers had suggested, centralized power, unified military command, and standardized taxation.

Then he will lead his troops south again.

It's not just looting anymore.
He could have followed the example of the Xianbei Tuoba clan and marched south to rule the Central Plains, becoming the common master of both the grasslands and the Central Plains.

Jieli decided to send troops immediately.

From the Khan's court in Dingxiang to Tuli's camp in Yanbei, it was about eight hundred li, and the journey was difficult due to the icy and snowy conditions. However, Jieli thought this would be a perfect opportunity to catch Tuli off guard.
That's how he was caught off guard by the Tang army last time.

New Year's Eve,
Liu Heita, the governor of Beiheng Prefecture, came to see Li Yi with an urgent report.
Li Yi and Li Shimin are personally making dumplings for New Year's Eve.

"King Qin, Minister of Works,"

"Tuli Khan sent someone to ask for help, saying that he had received news of an inside accomplice in the Khan's court, and that Jieli was leading troops to attack Tuli Khan's camp in Yanbei."

"Tuli Khan requests military assistance!" Liu Heita presented Tuli's urgent letter requesting aid.

Li Yi didn't answer.
Li Shimin did not accept it.

The two continued making dumplings, one rolling out the dough and the other filling them. Inside the house were Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Changsun Wuji, Wei Zheng, and many others, all busy preparing for the New Year's Eve dinner.

Li Shimin squeezed the dumpling tightly with both hands, and a somewhat ugly dumpling was wrapped. "Wu Yi, what do you think?"

Li Yi skillfully rolled out the dough and said with a smile, "No rush, let Jieli's arrows fly a little longer."

Sending troops now might alert the enemy and cause Jieli to retreat.

Moreover, Tuli had to be severely beaten by Jieli before he would be able to resolutely rebel against Jieli and join the Tang Dynasty.

Let the two Khans, Jieli and Tuli, fight each other first.
By sitting back and watching the tigers fight, the Tang Dynasty should delay its intervention, especially when Tuli has been severely injured. Only then will the Tang Dynasty's intervention be truly valuable.

Li Shimin picked up a dumpling wrapper, took a piece of meat filling that Changsun Wuji had prepared, pinched it between his hands, and another dumpling was finished. "Let's have a good time and eat our New Year's Eve dinner from the fifth year of Wude."

As for the rest, we'll talk about it next year.

Fang Xuanling laughed from the side, "Li Sikong, hurry up and roll out the dough, we can't keep up."

Li Yi pulled Liu Heita over, "Prefect Liu, you've come at the perfect time. The task of rolling out the dough is now yours."

(End of this chapter)