Tang Dynasty Swordsman.

Shi Chaoyi cried out "Ah!" and fell to the ground after being hit by the dart.

But Jingjing'er also realized that the dart hadn't pierced the skin or flesh, because it made a crisp sound of armor plates clicking. Shi Chaoyi was as frightened as a stray dog, and even at night, he dared not remove his armor. If he wanted to rush up and take Shi Chaoyi's life, he probably wouldn't have time to cut off his head. But the guards surged up in layers, and judging from the sound, Tian Chengsi and his men had already arrived outside the tent!

Left with no other choice, Jingjing shot down two soldiers and fled in a sorry state. Fortunately, everyone, including Tian Chengsi, was concerned about Shi Chaoyi's safety, which allowed him to barely escape the camp despite being stabbed several times. He then took a long detour to report back to Qin Rui.

Upon receiving the report, Qin Rui was filled with shame, anger, and frustration, yet he was at a loss. He hurriedly ordered, "Please summon Mr. Guo." He needed to discuss with Guo Mo what to do next after the assassination attempt failed. Should he simply fight Tian Chengsi to the death, or pretend to be uninvolved and wait until dawn to follow Shi Chaoyi north, then look for another opportunity…

However, a report soon arrived saying, "His Majesty and Military Governor Tian have both hastily broken camp and set off northward!"

It turned out that Tian Chengsi had forced Jingjing'er to retreat and entered the tent to inquire about Shi Chaoyi's well-being. Shi Chaoyi cursed loudly, "The Li family couldn't kill me on the battlefield, so they sent an assassin. How despicable and shameless!"

Tian Chengsi picked up the dart that had fallen to the ground, lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then said to Shi Chaoyi, "This is probably not an assassin from the Tang family... I just caught a glimpse of the assassin's figure; he was quite thin and small, and his shape was like a monkey. He seemed to be one of the strange martial arts masters from Zhou Zhi's 'Divine Machine Guard' in the past..."

Upon hearing this, Shi Chaoyi was startled and hurriedly asked, "Could it be that Qin Rui is plotting something sinister?!"

Qin Rui was originally a confidant of Zhou Zhi. After Zhou Zhi's death, half of his former subordinates joined Qin Rui's command. Since they were members of the "Divine Machine Guard," they were most likely sent by Qin Rui, right? Shi Chaoyi was quick-witted and immediately made the connection.

Tian Chengsi suggested, "We can send someone to secretly spy on the Wuqing army camp. It's late at night, and we have to travel far tomorrow, so Qin Rui should be asleep. If there's still a light in his tent, then it must be an assassin he sent!"

As Tian Chengsi had predicted, Qin Rui was still pacing around the tent, waiting for Jingjing'er's report... So Tian Chengsi said to Shi Chaoyi, "Since the Qin traitor has harbored ill intentions, we cannot stay here any longer. We should break camp and leave tonight—Your Majesty, go first, and I will cover your retreat!"

Upon receiving the report, Qin Rui realized his plot had been exposed, and there was no point in continuing the pretense. He hurriedly whipped his soldiers, raised torches, and gave chase through the night. Early the next morning, they caught up with Tian Chengsi on the south bank of the Yongji Canal, where Tian Chengsi had his troops ready for battle. Qin Rui spurred his horse forward and demanded, "Why did you not inform His Majesty before taking him hostage and fleeing in the night? What is the meaning of this?"

Tian Chengsi pointed his whip and said, "His Majesty has already passed the canal. Summon all the armies and kill you, you disloyal and unjust traitor, first!"

Qin Rui was furious and led his troops to attack. Tian Chengsi fought with his back to the river, and the two sides fought fiercely. Around noon, countless banners suddenly appeared on the north bank of the Yongji Canal, and the Yan army shouted: "100,000 troops from Hengyang and Boling have come to our aid! We will surely kill the traitor Qin Rui!"

In fact, Qin Rui was hoping for the Hengyang army to arrive, because Guo Mo had said that Zhang Zhongzhi had already surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. However, this news did not spread throughout the Wuqing army. When the generals heard this, they thought that a large number of enemy reinforcements had indeed arrived, and they were all terrified. Taking advantage of the situation, Tian Chengsi led the charge and advanced his troops. Qin Rui was defeated and fled in a sorry state to his old stronghold in Qinghe, which was just a stone's throw away.

He truly hated Tian Chengsi to the core, while also lamenting his own bad luck—he was just one step away from taking Shi Chaoyi's head, and was instead defeated by the rebels… He had no choice but to send Guo Mo to the Tang camp again, to offer up the two prefectures of Bei and De, and to inform them of Shi Chaoyi's escape to the north.

But what angered him even more was yet to come—

At this time, Tang armies from all directions converged. Xin Yunjing came from the north, Tian Shenggong from the south, and Hou Xiyi from the east, their main force swelling to nearly 100,000. Meanwhile, Tian Chengsi repelled Qin Rui and crossed the Yongji Canal, only to learn that Zhang Zhongzhi had already surrendered to the Tang, and that only the 7,000 troops of Xue Zhongyi, the military governor of Boling, had come to his rescue…

Tian Chengsi felt that the situation was hopeless. Even if a large force from Fanyang arrived, it would be difficult to recover the lost territory. It would be fortunate if they could temporarily stop the Tang army's offensive and defend northern Hebei and Fanyang and other counties. How long could they hold out in such a small area?

But he was ultimately different from Qin Rui. Originally a subordinate of An Lushan, he had also joined Shi Siming's forces and was unwilling to bear the infamy of murdering his lord. Therefore, after the Yan army retreated across the Zhang River, he volunteered to stay and guard Hengshui County, suggesting that Shi Chaoyi personally go to Youzhou to urge Li Huaixian, the military governor of Fanyang, to send troops south to relieve Hengshui. Shi Chaoyi agreed.

Seeing that the Tang army was about to launch another large-scale attack, Shi Chaoyi was terrified and didn't want to stay at the front line for even a day. He planned to order Li Huaixian to lead the army south to rescue Fanyang after arriving there, and he would simply stay in Fanyang.

So he led two thousand cavalrymen northward. But no sooner had he left than Tian Chengsi lured and killed Xue Zhongyi, annexed his troops, and then offered Shi Chaoyi's mother, wife, and children to the Tang camp…

Upon hearing the news, Qin Rui was furious! He thought to himself, if you, Tian Chengsi, could have protected Shi Chaoyi until the end of the war, I would have respected you as a man. But you just exposed my plot and then surrendered to Tang... Why didn't you discuss with me earlier about selling out Shi Chaoyi together?

"This traitor, I will never let him live under the same sky! One day I will cut off his head, slaughter his wife and children, and exterminate the entire Tian family!"

All we can do now is swear that "one day will come." As things stand, both Qin and Tian have surrendered to the Tang Dynasty and have received generous treatment from Pugu Huai'en, the deputy commander of Hebei...

Chapter 8, Recruiting and Accepting Surrender

After accepting Tian Chengsi's surrender, the main force of the Tang army temporarily stayed in Xindu County, the capital of Jizhou, on the south bank of the Zhang River, for a brief reorganization.

Since crossing the Yellow River to the north, Li Ji had basically not fought any battles and was quite depressed. He guessed that either the matter of forbidding the troops from looting Luoyang had offended Pugu Huai'en, leading to his deliberate suppression, or the matter of assassinating Xu Shuji had made Pugu Huai'en feel that he had received a great favor from him, so he could transfer the credit to others at will.

—Nan Jiyun and Lei Wanchun returned to camp four days after sneaking off to Weizhou, and secretly reported to Li Ji: "The mission is accomplished."

Pugu Huai'en had given prior notice, allowing the two generals, Nan and Lei, to sneak into Xu Shuji's bedroom under cover of night. Upon seeing the two generals, Xu Shuji's face turned green, and he cried out, "I once saved Suiyang and have done you a favor! How dare you harm me?!"

Nan Jiyun grabbed Xu Shuji by the neck, turning his shouts into murmurs. Then Nan Jiyun sneered, "I went to Pengcheng to borrow troops from Doctor Xu, but he refused. Did you ever imagine this day would come? Because you refused to go to the rescue of Suiyang, countless loyal ministers and martyrs have lost their lives, waiting in the afterlife to meet you! If it weren't for Li Erlang kidnapping you, the siege of Suiyang wouldn't have been lifted. You never intended to do good, so how dare you speak of virtue?!"

Xu Shuji could only beg for mercy repeatedly. Lei Wanchun said impatiently, "Why bother talking to such a villain? Just kill him!" So the two generals used a white silk ribbon they had prepared beforehand to strangle Xu Shuji to death, and then hung him from the beam to fake his suicide.

To be honest, this job was done very poorly. If a seasoned official with years of experience in handling cases were to investigate, he would immediately know whether it was murder or suicide. Besides, even if Xu Shuji really did commit suicide out of fear of punishment, surely he would have left a single word behind? The key issue is that during the march, Li Ji had nowhere to find someone to imitate Xu Shuji's handwriting, fearing that he might make things worse by trying to explain it further…

But it doesn't matter. Since this matter has been approved by Pugu Huaien, it's easy to get away with it—at least the scene can be completely destroyed. Even if a detective from another time travels over, he will be helpless.

Nan Jiyun sighed, "It's a pity that we can neither cut off Xu Shuji's head to offer as a sacrifice to the dead, nor can we depict his terrified state before his death and preserve it for posterity... We felt so happy when we saw his expression at that time!"

Li Ji thought to himself, "You never know that one day there will be something called a 'camera'..."

He then quietly set up a private mourning hall in his tent, with memorial tablets for Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan in the center, flanked by Chen Ruo and other generals and officers of the Suiyang Army who had died in battle over the years, as well as a plaque inscribed "Spirits of the Suiyang Army Who Died Protecting the Nation." Li Ji led Nan Jiyun and other former Suiyang troops to pay their respects in turn.

To get back to the point, when the Tang army was temporarily stationed in Xindu, Li Baoyu, the military governor of Luze, suddenly came to their door.

Back in Heyang, Li Baoyu had followed Li Guangbi in defending against bandits, and Li Ji had met him several times. However, due to the vast difference in their status at the time, even though Li Ji was highly regarded by Li Guangbi and Pugu Huai'en, Li Baoyu had no intention of actively seeking a relationship with him. Now that their positions have become somewhat closer, both being commanders of their own armies, and with Li Ji practically a close confidant of Marshal Li Shi, it's only natural that Li Baoyu would visit him privately.

Li Ji still served Li Baoyu his simplified version of tea-making. But it was clear that Li Baoyu's mind was not on the tea, nor was he simply there to ingratiate himself or build rapport. After exchanging pleasantries, he asked Li Ji in a low voice, "Second Brother, what do you think of the Marshal's recent treatment of the surrendered generals?"

Zhang Xiancheng, Zhang Zhongzhi, Xue Song, Qin Rui, Tian Chengsi and other rebel military governors successively surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. Logically speaking, they should have handed over their land and troops, entered the Tang camp alone, and awaited their fate. Otherwise, if their surrender was feigned, and they found an opportunity to rebel again a few days later, what would we do if they stabbed us in the back?

However, Pugu Huaien seemed to have great trust in those traitorous generals, even allowing them to continue to control the territory and lead the army.

For example, Xue Song and Li Baoyu had already led their troops into Xue Song's camp to inspect the officers and soldiers, intending to reorganize them. Pugu Huaien then issued an order: "Li Baoyu, you go back to your own camp and let Xue Song continue to lead the troops."

The same applies to Xin Yunjing and Zhang Zhongzhi.

Li Baoyu and Xin Yunjing were furious and suspected that Pugu Huaien had ulterior motives and wanted to take the opportunity to win over those rebel generals and keep their troops so that they could be their helpers in the future—maybe that guy also wanted to rebel!

In the past few days, the two generals have been working together in their respective camps, planning to submit a joint memorial impeaching Pugu Huai'en, which naturally includes Li Ji. Xin Yunjing still has some concerns, saying, "Li Ji has a close relationship with Pugu and his son, and he will definitely not listen to me. What should we do if we report this to Pugu?"

Li Baoyu, however, said, “Li Erlang is a loyal minister, entrusted with high hopes by the Emperor and the Marshal. He will certainly not rebel with Pugu. Moreover, we are acting with integrity and have jointly impeached him. Why should we be afraid of Pugu finding out?” He patted his chest and went to find Li Ji.

When the matter was brought up, Li Ji was asked for his opinion. After a moment of contemplation, Li Ji slowly said, "Before the current emperor ascended the throne, there was an edict stating, 'Those who surrender or lead their followers to submit, from the rebel Shi Chaoyi downwards, shall be granted extraordinary rewards'..."

Li Baoyu shook his head: "How the court decides to proceed is its business, but now that they have surrendered, how can they not relinquish their military power? The deputy commander's arbitrary actions may lead to future trouble!"

He didn't dare mention that Pugu Huaien had rebellious intentions; after all, it was just speculation. He could tell others, but not Li Ji. He wasn't afraid that Li Ji would report to Pugu Huaien that Li Baoyu and Xin Yunjing wanted to impeach him, but he didn't want Li Ji to say that the generals wanted to impeach him for treason... that would really offend Pugu Huaien badly, and might even lead to false accusations and being implicated.

Li Ji smiled and said, "What I mean is that since the Emperor has issued this decree, it is most likely that the generals' impeachment of the deputy commander will not be permitted..."

Li Baoyu and Xin Yunjing tried to rally support, but received almost no response. Ultimately, the two generals had to jointly submit a memorial impeaching Pugu Huai'en, but that's another story. After Li Baoyu left, Li Ji brewed another pot of tea and savored it alone. His long conversation with Li Bi before leaving the capital resurfaced in his mind—

At that time, Li Bi had not yet moved to live next door to Li Ji, and naturally had not officially married. Since his younger brother was going on a long journey the next day, he begged Li Yu to let him leave the palace for one night so that he could talk with Li Ji by candlelight.

The conversation naturally started with Lai Zhen. Li Bi said, "Lai Dafu (Lai Zhen Jilu is the Imperial Censor) is a general of the state with great merit and outstanding achievements. Even if he disobeys orders in the slightest, we should not punish him severely, lest it hurt the feelings of the other generals. Changwei, when you arrive in Xiangyang, you must use your wisdom to take it over, and be careful not to use force."

Li Ji nodded and said, "I know—'Since the emperor has promised such a high official rank, I suppose Minister Lai will no longer make excuses and refuse to return to the capital... However, these military governors often hold onto their troops and act arrogantly. If they are not punished, I fear that a second or third Lai Zhen will emerge in the future. Where can the court find so many ministers and prime ministers to offer? We should wait until the rebellion is quelled before gradually eliminating them and returning all military power to the central government.'"

He boasted that this statement was absolutely "politically correct" and flawless, but Li Bi shook his head with a wry smile: "It cannot be edited out."

Why?

Li Bi countered, "Why do you think the state appoints so many military governors and defense envoys?"

"In order to unify local military and political power, we will do our utmost to quell the unrest."

"Then what caused the chaos?"

“The towns along the border are powerful and difficult to control.”

This was also Li Ji's consistent view: the An Lushan Rebellion was fundamentally a warlord rebellion because the country's main military forces were concentrated in the border towns, while the interior was weak, especially the Imperial Guards, which were particularly ineffective. It had nothing to do with Emperor Xuanzong's blind faith in non-Han generals—Li Guangbi, Pugu Huai'en, and Li Baoyu were all non-Han generals.

"Then why would the state concentrate its troops in border towns?"

"To defend against the Khitans and Xis in the east, to defend against the barbarian bandits in the west, to defend against the Nanzhao in the south, and..." Li Ji paused slightly before saying, "Even the Uyghurs cannot be completely trusted."

Li Bi nodded slowly, finally getting to the heart of the matter: "Even if the chaos in Guandong is quelled, the Khitan, Xi, Tubo, Nanzhao, and even the Uyghurs will still exist. How can we change course and abandon the heavy military presence along the border? The border towns cannot be weakened. And if heavy military presence is stationed along the border, how can the interior be left without troops as before? Not only must the Imperial Guard be strengthened, but the towns in Henan, Hebei, and even the Jianghuai region cannot be weakened either..."

Upon hearing this, Li Ji fell silent.

In fact, he had more than a thousand years of experience than Li Bi on this issue, and his understanding was more insightful. He had discussed this topic in detail with Li Bi before.

In the early Tang Dynasty, the equal-field system was implemented, which led to the emergence of the Fubing system. This system involved twelve guards and local military prefectures managing the Fubing, in addition to the four Southern Guards protecting the central government. These Fubing were temporarily conscripted. In other words, only about 100,000 were professional or semi-professional soldiers, while the rest were conscripts—and even then, only for short periods.

These conscripts did not leave their jobs, served on schedule, and provided their own clothing, equipment, and horses—of course, the imperial court would also provide some—so the pressure on the national treasury was relatively small.

However, the equal-field system quickly collapsed. Years of war had left many of the upper-middle class impoverished and many of the lower class dead, resulting in a sparsely populated land area. This suffices to allow land to be allocated based on the number of adult males, essentially using land to collect taxes and military service obligations from the people. But once peace returned, the population grew rapidly, and land consolidation became rampant, leading to the bankruptcy of many self-cultivating farmers who were reduced to slavery by officials and private individuals. Thus, the wealthy owned vast tracts of land and could use various methods to circumvent or even evade military service, while the poor had nowhere to stand; how could they possibly bear the heavy burden of military service?

As a result, the Fubing system (a military system based on conscription) quickly collapsed.

However, a country cannot be without soldiers to defend against foreign invaders and quell internal turmoil. Thus, the "Changxing Jian'er" (a type of soldier) was born in response to the times and gradually became the main body of the army after the Kaiyuan era.

The so-called "Long March Warriors," also known as Long March Warriors or Military Defense Warriors, refers to volunteer soldiers, or mercenaries, who voluntarily enlisted, working part-time or fully off duty, and receiving a salary from the imperial court while performing combat missions. Roughly speaking, the cost for the state to support one warrior exceeded that of supporting five to ten conscripts.

Meanwhile, external threats grew increasingly severe. The Tibetans and Uyghurs rose to power, the Khitans and Xi formed alliances through marriage, and even the Nanzhao Kingdom unified the six Zhao kingdoms, dominating the southwest. As a result, many brave soldiers gathered on the frontier, gradually forming ten major border garrisons. However, the imperial court, after supporting these border garrisons, simply could not afford to maintain an army within its own borders. It was against this backdrop that the An Lushan Rebellion finally broke out.

As Li Mi said, in order to defend against foreign invaders, even if the rebellion in Guandong is quelled, the border towns cannot be abolished; and if the border towns are not abolished, but the military power of the various military governors and defenders in the interior is reduced, wouldn't that just restore the original state? Who knows if another An Lushan or another Shi Siming will emerge?

Li Ji couldn't help but sigh, "Could this situation, with warlords growing stronger and the court being held hostage, continue?"

Li Bi reminded him: "You've overlooked one problem. Nowadays, most of the soldiers in the country are brave men, accustomed to battle and combat, and dislike farming. If they are reduced in number, will they agree? It will surely cause trouble again..."

Li Ji said, "During the Kaiyuan and Tianbao eras, the number of soldiers was at least five times that of before; now, the number of soldiers is five times that of the Kaiyuan and Tianbao eras—where does the court get so much money to support the army?" They have been struggling for a long time. Even with Fifth Qi and Liu Yan robbing Peter to pay Paul, they still can't fill the hole. If the military garrisons are not abolished, all those in charge of finance will have to hang themselves from the southeast branch!

Li Bi sighed, "The only solution now is... for the court to stop interfering so much."

Seeing the questioning look in Li Ji's eyes, Li Bi said, "You came from Jin... so you naturally know about the Western Jin Dynasty. Back then, there were prefectures under the provinces..."

Li Ji interrupted him: "The prefecture of that time is the state of today."

"However, today's prefecture is directly under the jurisdiction of the imperial court!"

Li Bi then patiently explained, "The establishment of prefectures began in the Qin Dynasty and was continued in the Han Dynasty. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, there were no more than thirty-six prefectures, but later forty-six more were added. As the territory expanded daily, the number of prefectures increased, so Emperor Wu of Han established various regional inspectors..."

When the thirteen departments were first established in the mid-Western Han Dynasty, their heads, except for the Commandant of the Capital Region, only had temporary supervisory power—the term "Inspector" meant an imperial censor who temporarily went out to investigate. However, during the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han, the title of Inspector was changed to Governor, gradually making them local administrative officials. The power of the Inspectors was slightly weakened in the early Eastern Han Dynasty, but by the end of the Han Dynasty, their power had increased even more, continuing into the Jin Dynasty.

"...During the Sui Dynasty, prefectures were abolished and replaced with provinces, or provinces were replaced with prefectures. Our Tang Dynasty followed this practice, which was actually the same as in the early Han Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Taizong, envoys were appointed to promote and dismiss officials in various circuits, similar to the provincial governors during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han. During the reign of Emperor Ruizong, it was proposed to establish twenty-four regional governorates under which all provinces were subordinate, but this was abandoned due to opposition from the officials. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, fifteen regional inspectors were appointed, which were later changed to regional observers, and military governors were also appointed along the borders..."

Li Ji nodded and said, "I understand what you mean, brother. In short, the territory is expanding and the population is growing, so the two-tiered administrative system is no longer enough to manage it. Therefore, it must be changed to a three-tiered system."

Upon hearing this, Li Bi was slightly taken aback, then stroked his beard: "A two-tiered administrative system, a three-tiered administrative system... these terms are quite apt. Indeed, during the Zhenguan era, there were only three million households in the entire country, but by the Tianbao era, there were nine million—and if you include those who went into hiding or fled, it was no less than ten million..."

Li Ji shrugged: "Now it seems we'll have to back down again, won't we?"

"In the end, the Jiangnan region suffered less damage, and its population today is probably more than at the founding of the dynasty. If the court continues to directly govern the prefectures, it will be difficult to manage them."

Li Ji frowned slightly: "Does my brother mean to make the military governors of the various towns the current governors?"

Li Bi nodded: "The imperial court will no longer directly govern the prefectures. Their political affairs and finances will be managed by the respective inspectors and military governors. The towns within the territory will pay tribute on time, while the towns along the border will be supplied by imperial decree, which will help them communicate between the two regions."

Li Ji raised an eyebrow: "Brother, this isn't a three-tiered administrative system, it's a contract system... no, it's a feudal system!"

Chapter Nine, There's No Perfect Solution

The Zhou Dynasty implemented a system of enfeoffment, where the Zhou emperor was only responsible for governing the royal domain of a thousand li (approximately 500 kilometers), while the rest of the land was enfeoffed to the feudal lords, who were required to pay tribute on time. For feudal lords facing significant external pressure, the emperor would occasionally assist in allocating resources to help them overcome difficulties—or, in other words, allow them to exchange military action for revenue.

Li Mi had long harbored the idea of ​​a feudal system. Upon arriving at the imperial court in Ding'an, Emperor Suzong, concerned that generals like Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi held significant military power and were difficult to control, suggested that fiefdoms be established.

"Rewarding merit with official titles has two drawbacks: it leads to the failure of those without talent, and it makes those with power difficult to control. Therefore, meritorious officials who hold high office do not plan for the long term of their descendants, but only covet power for temporary gain, and will do anything for it. If An Lushan had a kingdom of a hundred li, he would have cherished it and passed it on to his descendants, and he would not have rebelled. The best course of action now is to wait until the country is at peace and then reward meritorious officials with titles and lands. Even a large country would only be two or three hundred li, comparable to a small prefecture today. How difficult would it be to control them? This would be a benefit for the country and for the officials for generations to come."

Li Ji was naturally vehemently opposed to this, and had engaged in several verbal battles with Li Bi, neither able to convince the other. Now that Li Bi had brought up this argument again, Li Ji questioned, "Does my brother want my Tang Dynasty to become like the Eastern Zhou Dynasty?"

"What's wrong with the two Zhou dynasties, which ruled for eight hundred years?"