Tang Dynasty: A Guide to Avoiding Pitfalls for Li Er at the Start

Chapter 157 One day, the land of Yinshan will belong to the Tang Dynasty.
Li Chengqian was terrified. He felt his body suddenly fall to the side, and the feeling of weightlessness made him frantically try to grab something.

Just then, a large hand suddenly grabbed his collar and lifted him up.

"what!"

With a loud shout, Qin Qiong gripped the reins tightly, lifted Li Chengqian with one hand, and steadied the horse.

Soldiers nearby rushed over to help calm the horses.

Li Chengqian was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat. He sat on his horse, unable to recover for a long time.

Qin Qiong's face flushed, and a wave of dizziness washed over him. He dared not linger on horseback and quickly handed Li Chengqian over to the soldiers who had come to help.

He then dismounted.

Upon landing, he suddenly stumbled, and if it weren't for the soldiers supporting him, he would have definitely fallen.

"Duke Yi?" Li Chengqian, who had come to his senses, was greatly surprised when he saw this and quickly came up to ask.

Qin Qiong covered his head, took a few breaths, looked up at him, and forced a smile: "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I am fine."

He took a few deep breaths and gradually calmed down.

After letting out a long sigh, he looked at the sky in bewilderment: "How could there be a bolt from the blue when there isn't a cloud in the sky?"

"It sounded like gunpowder." Li Chengqian had recovered from the shock and, recalling the noise, realized it was gunpowder.

"Gunpowder? Is that the stuff we gave to Yaojin and Jingde before?"

Qin Qiong was not feeling well at the time, so he did not go to see their experiment, but he did hear quite a commotion.

"should be."

Li Chengqian nodded.

Just then, two people hurriedly walked towards them; they were Wen He and Li Daozong.

The former ran swiftly to Li Chengqian, looked him up and down for a long time, and even touched his leg.

"You didn't fall, did you?"

A soldier just went in to report that Qin Qiong and Li Chengqian's horses had an accident, and Wen He was dumbfounded.

Coming to his senses, he sprinted towards the military camp gate at almost the speed of a 100-meter dash.

Li Daozong was stunned.

Fortunately, Li Chengqian is alright; he seems to be in much better condition than Qin Qiong.

"It was Duke Yi who saved me just now." Li Chengqian was still shaken when he recalled what had just happened.

Wen He raised her hand and slapped him on the head, a scene that left Li Daozong and Qin Qiong dumbfounded.

This is a prince, the future crown prince! Wen He just hit him like that?
Moreover, judging from Li Chengqian's appearance, it seems this is not the first time.

"Why are you running around like that?"

"I won't do it again next time," Li Chengqian said, covering his head in grievance.

Wen He suddenly raised his hand again, and he subconsciously covered his head, but this time the former did not hit him, but instead rubbed his head.

"Remember this, don't take unnecessary risks in the future."

He was genuinely worried that something might happen to Li Chengqian.

If his leg breaks again, then all of Wen He's previous efforts will have been in vain.

This is not alarmist.

Why did Li Chengqian become despondent and feel increasingly threatened by Li Tai after he became lame?

That's because throughout history, there has almost never been an emperor with a physical defect.

No matter how wise a ruler is, if he has a limp, he will lose half of his authority in front of his subjects.

By then, it won't be a matter of whether Li Shimin and Li Chengqian are willing or not.

Instead, someone will push Li Tai forward.

"I understand, sir." Li Chengqian's eyes reddened. He knew that Wen He was worried about him, which was why he was moved.

"What are you crying for? A man doesn't cry easily. Don't be like your father." He said the last sentence very quietly.

However, Qin Qiong and Li Daozong, who were standing to the side, still heard it.

The two couldn't help but laugh.

This young man, Wen, is so critical of His Majesty; it seems he has a very close relationship with His Majesty's family.

Qin Qiong stroked his beard, his mind drifting to his son who had just turned one year old.

The reason he insisted on following Li Chengqian this time was for the sake of the Qin family's future.

He knew his body might not be able to hold on, and he might be able to go on one or two more campaigns, but the child was only one year old.

He wanted to use this favor to ensure that Li Chengqian would take better care of the Qin family in the future.

Seeing Wen He's attitude towards Li Chengqian, he immediately changed his mind.

In a few years, when my eldest son grows up a bit, he will also become an apprentice of this young Wen.

Wouldn't that mean he and the Crown Prince would be from the same school?

Li Shimin might not have agreed if it were someone else, but Qin Qiong knew that if he stepped forward to make the request, it would surely be successful.

Wen He was unaware of what Qin Qiong was planning.

Little did he know that a few years later, he would have a silly, chubby-faced boy by his side.

……

By the time we got back to our base, it was already quite late.

After dinner, Wen He felt a little sleepy.

He wanted to go to sleep, but Li Chengqian stopped him.

"Sir, may I sleep with you tonight?" Li Chengqian blinked, looking at him expectantly.

Seeing his appearance, Wen He knew that he must have been frightened by what happened that morning.

You don't wet the bed, do you?

“I stopped wetting the bed when I was three years old,” Li Chengqian retorted, his face flushed and his lips pouting.

Wen He was amused by him and couldn't help but laugh: "Alright, alright, then take a bath and go to sleep. In a few days, you won't have such peaceful days anymore."

Wen He glanced at the area outside the city, a dark mass of people.

The Turks were only a little over a hundred miles from Huizhou. Given the speed of their cavalry, their vanguard would be at the city gates in two days at most.

It might arrive tomorrow afternoon.

When they attack the city, things won't be so peaceful here anymore. Sure enough, Wen He's prediction was correct.

By noon the next day, a troop of Turkic cavalry had already appeared outside the city.

Li Junxian, standing on the city wall, peered through his binoculars, frowned, and coldly ordered, "Ignore them. If they get within a hundred paces, use crossbows to intimidate them!"

In the afternoon, Su Dingfang led two hundred cavalrymen out of the city quietly, with Liang Jianfang following closely behind.

Although their units did not carry gunpowder, they did carry crossbows.

On the way here, all the cavalrymen learned how to use the Divine Arm Crossbow on horseback under the guidance of the Hundred Riders.

While not everyone can be said to be an expert, it's enough to give the Turks a run for their money.

As evening fell, Wen He sensed that something was amiss in the city.

Even Li Daozong, who usually liked to joke with him, became serious.

“Little boy, Jieli’s vanguard is less than thirty miles from Huizhou. I’m afraid there will be a fierce battle tomorrow.”

Standing on the city wall, Li Daozong gazed at the plains outside.

As the camera pans towards the horizon, faint flickering lights appear.

Wen He looked through the binoculars.

There are Turks building a camp over there, but it doesn't look very big.

"They didn't seem to intend to stay long, and the camps they built looked very simple."

"Ha, that's not a camp, it's a place where slaves are imprisoned." A sneer came from behind Wen He.

He put down his binoculars and saw Li Jing leading his men to the location.

"Why is Prince Rencheng here instead of going to the East Gate?" Li Jing glanced at Li Daozong.

The latter bowed and said, "Your Excellency, I was just looking to see the might of the Turks."

Li Jing knew he was joking, so he waved his hand and continued to explain to Wen He, "Before each battle, the Turks would capture people from the surrounding area, and then when they attacked, they would send those commoners to the front."

"And that place was where they imprisoned people, and it was also where they gathered the prisoners of war in the city after the war."

Wen He had heard about this before.

Many later documents have also said the same thing.

But hearing it with his own ears still made him shudder.

"These barbarians are worse than beasts!"

Looking at the Turks riding their horses in the distance, Wen He felt a surge of anger.

From the Quanrong of the Zhou Dynasty, to the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Jie, Di, and Qiang of the Han Dynasty, to the Turks of today, and later the Khitan, the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, the Jurchens, and the Jurchens.

Which of these nomadic peoples wasn't vicious and treacherous, which one wasn't treacherous, and which one didn't cause rivers of blood to flow across the Central Plains?

Wen He slammed his fist down on the battlement.

"If I were a little older, I would really like to go out and fight with Su Dingfang and Liang Jianfang!"

Unfortunately, he is too young to ride a horse, let alone wield a knife.

Wen He's words surprised both Li Jing and Li Daozong.

This young man, Wen, is so passionate at such a young age?

"I wonder if the Grand Steward has any poems to write?" Li Daozong asked suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere.

Despite being a military general, Li Jing was also a man of considerable literary talent.

To be precise, most of the famous civil and military figures of the Tang Dynasty were those who excelled in both.

Li Jing smiled and shook his head: "With a great battle imminent, where is the poetry?"

"I do have one."

After saying this, Li Daozong composed a poem, but it sounded more like a doggerel.

Wen He couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"What does the little one think?" Li Daozong asked, feigning seriousness.
He was just trying to tease Wen He.

Seeing his appearance just now, Li Daozong was a little worried about him, so he deliberately wrote a doggerel.

Unexpectedly, Wen He shook her head: "Not very good."

"Ha, you mean you can write one better than me? Why don't you write one and we'll see?"

Li Daozong felt that Wen He was ungrateful.

To his surprise, the latter suddenly looked up at him, her eyes gleaming: "Are you sure you want to compete with me in this?"

Li Daozong didn't know where his confidence came from.

“I think the young master is sure to be able to compose a good poem,” Li Jing said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, the former became even more unconvinced: "If you can compose poetry, I'll buy all the lamb legs from the hundred riders before we return to Chang'an."

"It's a deal?"

"A word is settled!"

Upon hearing this, Wen He shook her head.

He didn't want to be a plagiarist, but alas...

"The moon of Qin shines on the pass of Han, the soldiers on the long march have not returned; if only the Flying General of Longcheng were here, the barbarian horses would not dare to cross the Yin Mountains."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Daozong was stunned and stood there dumbfounded.

Meanwhile, Li Jing's expression grew increasingly solemn.

Today, the Turks occupy the Yin Mountains, constantly threatening the Tang Dynasty.

In the east of the river, there was another Liang Shidu who acted as an accomplice to the Turks and frequently colluded with Lingzhou.

"Wei and Huo are long gone, but now Tang generals are here!"

Li Jing slammed his palm heavily on the battlement, gazing intently at the distant lights.

"One day, the land of Yinshan will belong to the Tang Dynasty, and the barbarian tribes will no longer be seen in the Hebei region!"

"call!"

At dawn, the rising sun shines on Huizhou City.

A warning sound abruptly woke the sleeping soldiers.

(End of this chapter)