Tang Dynasty Swordsman.

After boiling twice, Li Ji ordered his servants to remove the water from the fire, filter out the tea leaves, and fill five large cups with the liquid, which he then distributed to everyone. He deliberately used white porcelain cups to show the true color of the tea, which was clear, transparent, and slightly yellowish, quite different from the thick, bubbly, and milky white tea commonly seen in those days.

Everyone held their cups, scrutinizing the color of the tea, but none dared to drink it. Wei Boyu, however, was the first to sniff, exclaiming, "Eh!" "It really is the aroma of tea, and... the fragrance is so pure and pristine, it makes one feel as if they are amidst towering mountains and flowing water..."

Li Ji smiled and said, "Because this is pure tea, without salt, spices, or dairy products, its flavor is the true taste of tea, capturing the essence of nature." He raised his hand and said, "Please, please." Then he picked it up himself, blew on it, and took a small sip.

Hmm, not bad. Sichuan does produce excellent tea, but how exactly to process it to achieve the best quality green tea still requires repeated experimentation... Of course, he can't experiment on his own, since he's not in Sichuan. He can continue to ask Cui Gan for help.

Seeing that Li Ji had drunk from it, everyone else also raised their cups to their lips and took a sip.

Pugu Huai'en frowned and said, "Without the addition of dairy, the bitterness is even stronger..." Pugu Yang shook his head as well. Wei Boyu, however, closed his eyes and savored it carefully. After a long while, he let out a long breath: "Wonderful! Although there is no honey sweetness, the sweetness permeates the back of the tongue; although there is no dairy fragrance, the fragrance penetrates the internal organs. So, this is the true taste of tea?"

Guo Yingyi replied, "I have tasted tea prepared in this way before..."

Li Ji was slightly taken aback: "Where is this custom from?"

Guo Yingyi shook his head: "It's not a custom. In the past, when I had indigestion and my internal organs were out of balance, the doctor took a tea cake, but instead of crushing it, he broke it open and boiled it in water, then filtered out the concentrated juice to use as a medicinal guide. It tasted very bitter and had no aftertaste. It's completely different from what Defense Li gave me today."

Li Ji laughed and said, "Of course. Since it's used as a medicinal ingredient, the taste shouldn't be a concern. It's not good water, nor is it filtered after just two boils. All we're looking for is a strong flavor. How can it be palatable?"

As they talked, everyone finished their cups of tea, but when Li Ji asked if they wanted more, both Pugu and his son politely declined. Guo Yingyi suggested they have another cup, but Wei Boyu said, "This tea is not only pure but also has a pleasant aftertaste, making one feel refreshed and relaxed. It's also easy to prepare, so even in the army, it can be drunk daily..."

Li Ji immediately said that he had quite a few loose teas like this, and would send someone to deliver two catties to Commander Wei later. Wei Boyu was overjoyed and hurriedly bowed in thanks. Guo Yingyi seized the opportunity to ask: Could you send me some too?

Pugu Yang curled his lip and said, "Alas, what's so delicious about such a bitter taste?" Pugu Huai'en also said, "I'd rather drink milk every day."

Seeing that the atmosphere had become quite harmonious, Li Ji finally found an opportunity to gradually steer the conversation toward the main topic while brewing tea again. "First of all, I would like to thank Pugu Huai'en for doing me a great favor in front of the Marshal today—"How could I not want to be the vanguard? However, the infantry of Jingzhou and Xiangyang advance too slowly and can only stay in the middle.

Pugu Yang smiled and cupped his hands in thanks: "Second Brother, there's no need to thank my father. On the contrary, I should thank you, Second Brother—my father has already bestowed upon me the position of vanguard." Consider it a favor you gave me; I owe you this debt.

Li Ji hurriedly praised, "Brother Pugu, you are a tiger cub from a military family, with the courage of General Piao Yao. You should go first." Then he asked, "I have only arrived in Shanxian today and am not very clear about the situation of the enemy and ourselves. I hope you gentlemen can teach me."

Pugu Huai'en introduced, "My Shuofang army has 15,000 men..." He pointed to Wei Boyu, "The Shaanxi-Guo army has 20,000 men..."

Wei Boyu hurriedly said, "Since the marshal is still stationed in Shanzhou, we must leave troops to protect it. I estimate that our army that has marched east will only number 15,000."

Guo Yingyi said, "My army, along with Hua Jun and some troops from Fufang, Binning and other places in Guanzhong, number around ten thousand."

Li Ji nodded: "My force numbers eight thousand. In that case, the number facing the enemy head-on will be around fifty thousand..."

Pugu Huaien reminded him: "There are also 5,000 Uyghur cavalry. The total is 55,000, with 20,000 horses... In fact, there are fewer than 10,000 cavalry. Each Uyghur soldier has one, two, or three horses, but they certainly will not lend them to us."

"Where is the bandit's strength?"

"The scouts report that Shi Chaoyi is in Luoyang, with Ashina Chengqing as his commander, and his troops number seventy to eighty thousand. However, we still need to defend against Li Luze (Li Baoyu, the military governor of Luze) in the north and Li Taiwei in the south. At most, he can only send fifty thousand men to defend against us."

Li Ji stroked his beard and pondered, "In that case, the enemy and I are evenly matched..."

Guo Yingyi said, “We must not be careless. The military governor of Suiyang appointed by Shi has 40,000 troops, while the military governors of Yejun, Hengyang, Boling, and Wuqing each have 10,000 to 20,000 troops. In addition, the military governor of Fanyang, Li Huaixian, is protecting their stronghold. If they continue to gather troops, the number will probably not be less than 200,000!”

Pugu Huaien waved his hand: "Xin Yunjing is in Hedong, ready to march east to Taihang at any time, so Zhang Zhongzhi and others will not dare to act rashly; as for Li Huaixian, Fanyang is too far away, how can he travel south to help? The only concern is Tian Chengsi, but he is on the southern route, so let Grand Commandant Li have a headache."

Li Ji nodded and said, "In that case, our army should fight quickly. If we delay too long, the Fanyang army may very well march south..."

“Of course we must fight quickly,” Pugu Huai’en laughed. “If we delay too long, we will run out of food and supplies. Whether it is our army or the enemy army, we will have to strip tree bark and eat dry grass.”

“Actually,” Li Ji frowned slightly, “with the three armies surrounding Luoyang, it wouldn’t be difficult to recapture it. If we could capture or kill the traitor Shi Chaoyi in one battle, then the overall situation would be settled. I only fear that Shi Chaoyi will flee to Hebei, gather troops to defend Xiang and Wei prefectures, and Li Huaixian will then send the Fanyang army south to reinforce him…”

Wei Boyu's face darkened, and he said in a low voice, "That's the situation in the second year of Qianyuan!"

Li Ji narrowed his eyes slightly and slowly said, "The defeat at Xiangzhou was not due to the incompetence of Lords Guo and Li, nor to the inability of the generals to fight..." As he spoke, he glanced at Pugu Huai'en, who had been present at the time—"but rather to someone who deceived his superiors and delayed military operations." He then slammed his right fist into his left hand: "If this traitor is not eliminated, I fear the defeat of the second year of Qianyuan will be repeated tomorrow!"

Chapter 51, Insubordination

As Li Ji spoke, he steered the conversation toward Yu Chaoen.

The defeat at Xiangzhou was not entirely Yu Chaoen's fault, but if the generals were to be ranked and assigned responsibility, he would certainly be first. At that time, the eleven military governorships did not have a commander-in-chief. Neither Guo Ziyi nor Li Guangbi could command the entire army. The only one who could speak up and no one dared to disobey was Yu Chaoen.

Although Yu Chaoen did not hold the title of commander-in-chief, he wielded the authority of one.

Shi Siming led his troops south and stationed them in Weizhou, ready to launch a surprise attack at any time. Li Guangbi had already raised this threat with Yu Chaoen, but Yu Chaoen ignored it, neither submitting a memorial to the court seeking a countermeasure nor ordering the troops to be on high alert. However, after the defeat, he shifted all the blame onto Guo Ziyi, ultimately forcing Guo Ziyi to leave the front line at Heyang.

Since then, Old Minister Situ spent two and a half of those three years sitting on the sidelines in the capital, and he remains so to this day.

Therefore, Li Ji's idea was that since the marshal was not going to the front lines but instead staying in Shanzhou, the generals at the front would still respect Yu Chaoen. If he made another mistake, it would inevitably repeat the defeat at Xiangzhou. Moreover, after the battle, who knew who would be blamed for the defeat!

He said this naturally, because everyone knew that Li Ji and Yu Chaoen were enemies. As for the Pugu father and son, when Yu Chaoen instructed Li Guangbi to murder Li Ji, forcing Li Ji to flee the Tang camp, both of them were in the Heyang army and quickly learned the whole story. Pugu Yang privately cursed Yu Chaoen, and Pugu Huai'en also said, "Grand Commandant Li is still incompetent. If Minister Guo were here, this wouldn't have happened!"

For Wei Boyu, he had personally witnessed Li Ji chasing Yu Chaoen through the palace with a knife, all the way to Emperor Suzong Li Heng's presence. Moreover, after Zhang Xun's death, Yu Chaoen wanted to sever the garrison in Luoyang, forcing Nan Jiyun, Lei Wanchun, and others to stage a military remonstrance with the memorial tablet, a move that Wei Boyu had secretly instigated. Now, Nan and Lei were both under Li Ji's command, and supposedly even friends. So, even if it was just to avenge a friend, Li Ji wouldn't easily let Yu Chaoen go.

Only Guo Yingyi had only heard about the aforementioned events—but that was enough for her to understand the deep-seated grudge between the two.

Li Ji then berated Yu Chaoen, but Pugu Yang, a brainless man, chimed in first: "What Erlang is worried about is not unreasonable. That fellow has indeed slandered Minister Guo, and we all hate him for it!"

Pugu Huai'en repeatedly winked at his son, but Pugu Yang remained oblivious and continued, "Since the rebellion began, the government army has suffered several defeats, all due to the supervising eunuchs. Moreover, Yu Chao'en is not even a supervising eunuch of a particular town, but rather an inspector of military appearance and pacification commissioner. Although not the commander-in-chief, he is in real control of the entire army..." He pointed at Pugu Huai'en and said, "My father's position as deputy commander of Hebei is nominal, and Li Taiwei's position as deputy commander of Henan is also nominal. In the north and south of the Yellow River, Yu Chao'en can make decisions with a single word, which is truly detrimental to the army's operations."

Pugu Huai'en immediately rebuked him, saying, "You brat, don't speak nonsense!"

Li Ji glanced sideways at Pugu Huai'en and smiled slightly: "So even the deputy commander is afraid of Yu Chao'en?"

Pugu Huai'en, unable to withstand the provocation, immediately retorted, "What are you saying, Erlang? In the army, I only fear... no, I admire Minister Guo. I don't even care about Grand Commandant Li. How could I be afraid of a spineless coward like him? But even a crow can become a phoenix when it wears colorful clothes. Since he has been appointed as the envoy to inspect the army and to deliver orders on behalf of the emperor, how can we not obey?"

Li Ji spread his hands: "If we obey orders, then we will suffer defeat at Xiangzhou. Do you all really want the government army to suffer another defeat at the gates of Xiangzhou? Besides, Yu Chaoen is now in charge of the rearguard. He only needs to tamper with the supplies a little, and we will be defeated even if we don't want to be!"

As he spoke, he stood up and bowed deeply to Pugu Huai'en: "Yu Chao'en has wanted to kill me for a long time, but I fear that tomorrow I will implicate Lord Pugu..."

Pugu Huai'en's eyes widened, and he roared, "How dare he?! If Yu Chao'en tries to harm Erlang again, or delays the grain transport, I will risk my life to return to the Marshal and ask him to take the head of that eunuch!"

He then glanced at Wei Boyu and Guo Yingyi: "What did you two say?"

Wei Boyu thought to himself, "What are you doing? Taking sides? I'm going to be in the middle with you, Pugu Huaien. If Yu Chaoen, who's in the rear, tries anything, I'll be in the same boat. We're tied together, do you think I'm going to doubt you?" He immediately cupped his hands and said, "I will obey Pugu's orders."

Guo Yingyi was somewhat embarrassed, because according to the plan, he was supposed to cover the rear with Yu Chaoen; especially since Yu Chaoen didn't actually have many troops under his direct command, and Guo Yingyi was the strongest in terms of rear support—of course, strength doesn't necessarily equate to influence. If Li Ji's words came true, helping him would surely offend Yu Chaoen, but if he didn't help, would Pugu Huai'en and the others let him off the hook in the future?

He could only wave his hand and say, "Why must it be like this... Although the Marshal is not at the front lines, he is still in Shanzhou and will surely be able to restrain Yu Junrong..."

Li Ji sneered, "What's the difference between Shanzhou and Chang'an? Li Xi was once a marshal, how could he possibly restrain Yu Chaoen?" He then looked at Pugu Huai'en, "Since we know it's a malignant tumor, how can we not cut it out and wait for it to fester? By then, the army will be defeated, and we don't even know if we'll have the chance to come back and seek revenge on Yu Chaoen!"

Wei Boyu felt he roughly understood Li Ji's true intention in inviting him today, so he asked, "Does Defense Commander Li mean that the generals jointly petition to dismiss Yu Chaoen?"

Li Ji shook his head: "It's difficult. It's obvious that the marshal can't make the decision. If we jointly submit a memorial to the court, it will take several days for the process to proceed. The army will have to set off as soon as possible to have any hope of successfully recovering Luoyang."

Pugu Yang asked, "What does Erlang intend to do?"

Li Ji smiled sinisterly: "Suddenly, I remembered an old friend..."

"who is it?"

"Li Fei Gong".

He claimed to be Li Feiyuanli. After the Battle of Heyang, Li Feiyuanli was appointed as the military governor of Zhenxi and Beiting, stationed in Yicheng, where he was killed by a mutiny of his soldiers.

In the past year or two, such heinous incidents have occurred one after another, including the murder of Deng Jingshan, the military governor of Hedong, Li Guozhen, the commander of the various military camps in Shuofang and other regions, and Li Zangyong, the prefect of Chuzhou, all by their subordinates. However, the situation of the Zhenxi and Beiting military camps is the most special and worth discussing.

Firstly, Li Feiyuanli had met and knew Li Ji when he was in Heyang, so it would be too unnatural for Li Ji to suddenly bring up someone he had never met before; secondly, when Guo Ziyi pacified Hedong, the murderers of Deng Jingshan and Li Guozhen did not have good ends, but the Zhenxi and Beiting armies, after killing Li Feiyuanli, unanimously elected the subordinate general Bai Xiaode as the military governor, and the court actually recognized it...

The fact that the garrison troops established their own military leaders was an extremely bad precedent. When Li Ji mentioned this matter to Li Bi in the past, he couldn't help but feel deep resentment towards Li Heng and Li Fuguo.

Now that Li Ji has brought up the example of Li Feiyuanli, the Pugu father and son, being slow-witted, hadn't quite grasped it when Wei Boyu exclaimed in alarm, waving his hand: "Does Defense Commander Li intend to incite the generals to rebel? Absolutely not!"

Li Ji rolled his eyes: "How could I have such an intention? Duke Wei, you cannot slander someone's innocence for no reason!" Then he smiled wryly: "Back in Heyang, I did meet Bai Xiaode once. He was just a minor officer, but I never expected him to become a military governor..."

Guo Yingyi suddenly remembered something and asked, "I heard that Defense Commander Li accompanied the angel to Xiangyang to summon Lord Lai back, but the Xiangyang soldiers rebelled and besieged the post station where the angel was staying. Is this true?"

Li Ji nodded: "That's right." He then recounted the general events, and said: "Fortunately, I still have some martial arts skills, which allowed me to thwart the rebels' plot. If it had been Yu Chaoen, he might have died alongside the imperial envoy!" He paused, and then said: "Even so, since I killed Li Zhao, I was also forced to pardon Liang Chongyi. The rebel soldiers were only killed four or five ringleaders—I was afraid of another rebellion, and the country needed capable people, so I had to be cautious."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

Li Ji's meaning was clear: he did want to incite the soldiers to besiege Yu Chaoen and force Li Shi or the court to dismiss him. With Bai Xiaode and Liang Chongyi as examples, he believed that there wouldn't be any serious consequences—at most, a few scapegoats would be pushed out.

But he wouldn't say it outright, because if he did, it would give others ammunition to criticize him.

Guo Yingyi said angrily, "For a soldier to offend his general, for an inferior to a superior, is a grave taboo! If this precedent is set, the order of the country will be lost. Even if the rebels in Guandong are successfully suppressed, chaos will surely break out again! Commander Li must not take such a bad approach because of the precedent set by the Xiangyang troops!"

Li Ji replied, “It is indeed a great taboo for a soldier to offend a general, and for a subordinate to defy a superior. However, there are precedents, and the court has been unable to control it. As for your suggestion to stir up trouble again, we cannot even quell the current unrest in Guandong. Who can worry about the future? If my suggestion is the worst option, please tell me, Lord Guo, what are the best and second-best options?” He bowed and said, “I humbly request Lord Guo to teach me.”

Guo Yingyi was speechless.

Li Ji then asked Wei Boyu, "Today we've invited you all here for tea and casual conversation, so there's no need for any reservations. But what if the troops are all dissatisfied with Yu Chaoen's actions and start a disturbance on their own? What would you do, Lord Wei?"

"Naturally, depending on the situation, one may send troops to suppress it or offer kind words of persuasion."

"When Nan Jiyun and Lei Wanchun carried the memorial tablet of Doctor Zhang to remonstrate with Yu Chaoen, did Duke Wei suppress them or persuade them to reconsider?"

Wei Boyu was slightly taken aback, then flicked his sleeve and said, "When they entered Shaanxi City without weapons, they were asking for permission, not causing trouble, so why suppress them?"

Li Ji nodded: "I see. If the troops go there armed, it will be considered a rebellion, and it will need to be suppressed." He paused, then asked: "May I ask, Lord Wei, if I am taken hostage by the soldiers and cannot remove my sword and mace in time, what will you do?"

Wei Boyu, pressed to his limit by the questioning, was about to rebuke Li Ji—"What 'what if' or 'suppose'? Are you trying to force me to take sides?!"—when he suddenly heard Pugu Yang shout from the side, "Regardless of what Erlang did, I'm on Erlang's side!"

Pugu Huai'en cursed his son inwardly, thinking him a complete fool. Faced with such a problem, everyone else would shrink back, but he had to step forward and speak up. If Pugu Yang hadn't spoken, he could have continued to feign ignorance, but since his son had taken the lead, the father couldn't remain silent. Therefore, he slowly said, "If Erlang truly has his reasons, we are helpless, but we will never turn against Erlang with arms..."

I'll sit on the sidelines and watch you make a fuss.

Li Ji smiled: "That's for the best. The troops are all dissatisfied with those eunuchs. If something truly unspeakable happens, I, Li, will have no choice but to..." A sudden glint flashed in his eyes: "Yu Chaoen has wanted to kill me for a long time. Who is willing to sit idly by and wait to die? At worst, I'll exchange my blood for his head! I only hope it won't implicate you gentlemen..."

He said that all the armies were dissatisfied with Yu Chaoen, and there was truth to that. His subordinates, such as Nan Jiyun and Lei Wanchun, naturally hated Yu Chaoen to the bone. As for the Xiangyang soldiers, all they had to do was spread rumors that the court's recall of Lai Zhen was entirely due to Yu Chaoen's slander. Presumably, Liang Chongyi would be the first to jump out and declare that he was irreconcilably opposed to that eunuch.

Yu Chaoen was often in Shanzhou, and he treated the soldiers of Shanguo like servants. There were many dissatisfied people in the Shanguo army. Otherwise, Wei Boyu would not have let Nan Jiyun, Lei Wanchun and others off the hook that day and told them to go to Yu Chaoen to demand an explanation.

As for the Shuofang Army, Guo Ziyi was summoned back to the capital due to Yu Chaoen's slander. Although Pugu Huaien later flirted with Yu Chaoen to counter Li Guangbi, it was merely mutual exploitation, far from being truly allies. Only the Tonghua Army, led by Guo Yingyi, seemed to have no grudge against Yu Chaoen, but it's only natural for soldiers to be hostile towards the supervising eunuch.

Although Li Ji arrived in Shanzhou last, his spies had already been dispatched long ago!

Therefore, he asked the generals to state their position—"I want to deal with Yu Chaoen, will you help me or not?" After Pugu Huaien indicated that he could stand by and watch, Wei Boyu had no choice but to bow his head and say the same thing: "I will obey Pugu's orders." Guo Yingyi remained silent, so Li Ji added two more sentences: "The so-called 'law does not punish the masses.' Moreover, if there are any rebels under your command, I fear that you will not be able to escape responsibility in the future."

Then he bowed deeply again: "If I have been implicated in anything, I, Li Ji, apologize to you all in advance."

It's not that easy to completely stay out of it!

The "tea party" ended on a sour note—though everyone outwardly maintained the proper politeness. After leaving the Shannan East Circuit military camp, Pugu Yang asked his father, "Does Erlang really intend to fight Yu Guanchai to the death?" Pugu Huai'en sighed deeply, "Why must it come to this!"

Pugu Yang said, "If I were Erlang, I would also have no choice but to take this drastic measure—the fish scout is watching us from behind, his sword half-drawn. Who could feel safe fighting on the front lines?" He then lowered his voice and asked, "Would you like to lend Erlang a hand?"

Pugu Huai'en glared at him: "Don't act rashly!" Then he whispered a warning: "Secretly observe the situation first. When the time comes, obey my orders. You must not act recklessly." In truth, Pugu Huai'en was happy to see Li Ji succeed, to bring down Yu Chao'en, or even kill him outright. However, whether he himself could get involved, and how deeply he could get involved, was another matter...

Guo Yingyi, traveling with Wei Boyu, complained repeatedly: "This Inspector Li is far too irritable... Could it be that he has become arrogant because of the Emperor's and Marshal's favor, and even dares to... Should we hurry and report this to the Marshal?"

Wei Boyu did not answer, but stroked his beard, lowered his head and pondered in silence. Guo Yingyi asked three times before Wei Boyu finally said, "You may choose for yourself..." Then he slightly curled his lips, revealing an inscrutable smile.

Back in Ding'an, when Wei Boyu witnessed Li Ji chasing Yu Chaoen all the way to Emperor Suzong's presence, he thought to himself: "That little guy is doomed!" Who would have thought that Li Ji would not only escape unscathed, but would also become completely acquainted with Li Yu and his son, and even be regarded as a benefactor by Li Tan...

If Li Ji truly wanted the generals' assistance today, he could have spoken with them one by one in private. Why did he have to summon them all together and ask for their opinions? Especially since this was his first meeting with Guo Yingyi, and they had no prior acquaintance...

Chapter 52, Removing Your Military Power