Tang Dynasty Swordsman.

—This man was originally Li Ziyi, a former general of Weizhou. He was the fifth in his family and commanded the Red Flag Army in front of the government office. He was known as "Fifth Red Flag General".

Li Ziyi approached Nie Feng and casually clasped his hands in a fist salute: "I also have a share, but not all of them were summoned by me—one person tells ten, ten tell a hundred, and the hearts of the people converge here."

Nie Feng frowned: "Let's talk in private for a moment."

So they parted and came to a relatively open area near the city wall. Nie Feng stopped when he saw that the rest of the group was several feet away, and asked in a low voice, "You've all gathered here, could it be for the new military governor of Weibo?"

Li Ziyi nodded: "It goes without saying."

"What is it for?"

Li Ziyi sneered: "Why do you ask? We've come to ask for your services. We're unlucky, unlike you, Deputy General Nie, who returned directly to your hometown after the army's defeat and was still able to wear armor, wield a sword, and eat rations as a soldier. We have nowhere to turn now, our purses are almost empty, and our families are likely to suffer from hunger and cold. We want to rejoin the army, but the prefecture refuses to take us in... That's why we've come to 'beg' the new commander."

Nie Feng initially thought they meant no harm and simply wanted to regain their status as soldiers, but upon hearing Li Ziyi pronounce the word "beg" so clearly, a thought struck him—"If it's just a plea to the new commander, a dozen or so leaders could have come together. Why gather so many men? With so many people here, I'm afraid even the new commander wouldn't dare to abandon his boat and go ashore!"

Upon hearing this, Li Ziyi's eyes suddenly lit up: "So the new commander came by waterway?"

Nie Feng thought to himself, "Oh no! I've been too careless with my mouth and accidentally let slip a secret..." He quickly grabbed Li Ziyi's arm and said, "For the sake of our past comrades, tell me the truth, what exactly are you planning to do?"

Li Ziyi curled his lip: "I'm not lying to you, I really want to plead with the new commander to come... but if the new commander is cowardly and runs away on his own, it's not our fault..."

Nie Feng suddenly realized: "You want to force the new commander out, please ask the court not to order... no, you want to invite Commander Xue back to lead the Weizhou army again?!"

Li Ziyi grabbed Nie Feng's arm and said earnestly, "We have all received great kindness from Commander Xue, but unfortunately the court will not allow Commander Xue to continue to lead Wei Commandery, and will instead appoint a new commander. Heaven knows how the new commander will treat us? Deputy General Nie, Brother Nie, don't you want to return to Commander Xue's command?"

Nie Feng replied in a deep voice, "How could I not want to?" He continued in a low voice, "To be honest, I sent a letter to Fuyang the day before yesterday, earnestly requesting to go and serve him, but Commander Xue wanted me to stay in Weizhou to wait and serve the new commander..."

Li Ziyi narrowed his eyes slightly: "Does Commander Xue want you to be an inside man?"

Nie Feng shook his head: "No, Commander Xue is sincere in wanting me to assist the new commander..." He then asked in return: "Do you all want to go against the imperial court?"

Li Ziyi clicked his tongue: "We only remember the kindness of Commander Xue. Those surnamed An and Shi are a bunch of bastards who kill each other like father and son. Who cares about them? Since Commander Xue has returned to Tang, we should naturally return to Tang as well. Even if Commander Xue has rebellious intentions..." He paused and said with a bitter smile: "Actually, if we are still short of money and food as before and still have to be driven into battle, the men will not have much will to fight."

Nie Feng fully understood the thoughts of his former comrades. The An Lushan Rebellion lasted eight long years, during which they not only fought against the Tang army in Guanzhong, but even among their former comrades, bloodshed was inevitable—the internal strife within the puppet Yan state was not uncommon—frankly speaking, most of the Hebei soldiers were fed up. Especially during Shi Chaoyi's era, the various towns in Hebei were practically independent, yet there was no time to restore production, leading to widespread shortages of money and food—after all, soldiers were there to eat, and if they couldn't even fill their stomachs, who would be willing to risk their lives for them?

Including the soldiers of Weizhou, everyone was disgusted with the false Yan regime and longed for the Tang Dynasty. Moreover, anyone with a bit of insight knew that the Tang Dynasty's recapture of Hebei was an inevitable trend. However, once the war was over, the troops would definitely have to withdraw and return to farming. But most of the soldiers in Weizhou were veterans of the Long March, having served for seven or eight years or even longer. They had long since neglected farming and were emotionally unwilling to go back to the hard life of toiling in the fields.

If the former commander is in command, out of consideration for past relationships, he will most likely be reluctant to carry out large-scale troop reductions and drive away most of the soldiers; but if a new commander arrives, who knows what his attitude or what kind of person he is? Even if he is willing to take in these former soldiers, his superiors are of uncertain character and may not be easy to serve.

Therefore, it would be best to invite Xue Song back.

Nie Feng patiently explained to Li Ziyi, "I'm afraid even Commander Xue himself doesn't want to return. Think about it carefully. He has just returned to Tang and received five prefectures as his garrison. Even if Commander Xue is not satisfied and wants to return to Wei, he cannot rush to report to the emperor or even coerce the court. If the court thinks that Commander Xue has rebelled again, the troops in Hedong, Henan, and even Guanzhong have just returned to their posts and are still full of fighting spirit. If they are sent to attack, how can Commander Xue resist? Can you even resist them?!"

Li Ziyi lowered his head slightly and remained silent.

"If you force the new commander to leave today, I'm afraid that in order to gain the trust of the court, Commander Xue will not only not plead to regain control of Weizhou, but will also lead the Zhaoyi Army to besiege you!"

Upon hearing this, Li Ziyi was startled and exclaimed, "No, it can't be that bad..."

"How could it not be?!" Nie Feng said with a wry smile. "The Chief Secretary sent me out of the city with the intention of informing the new commander that I should temporarily take refuge in Xiangzhou and summon the Zhaoyi Army to accompany him. If Commander Xue is unaware of the situation here, and sends troops, how will you have a chance to explain your grievances to him..."

Seeing the murderous intent in Li Ziyi's eyes, he hurriedly added, "It was I who repeatedly requested permission to come out of the city first to ascertain your true intentions before making a decision."

The fierce glint in Li Ziyi's eyes flickered briefly before receding. He scratched the back of his head and asked, "So... in Vice General Nie's opinion, what should we do?"

Nie Feng pointed around and said, "Let's quickly disperse the men. Fifth Brother, you and a few of the leaders, come with me to the dock to welcome the new commander and plead your case. Now that Commander Xue is in the west and Commanders Qin and Tian are in the north, they have no intention of rebelling. Do you think the new commander would dare to neglect military preparedness after entering Weibo? Most of the men will still have a chance to get food... If he doesn't agree, you can go to Fuyang and go to Commander Xue to plead your case."

Li Ziyi thought for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Deputy General Nie, do you know how many troops the new commander has brought with him?"

Nie Feng shook his head: "I don't know either." Feng Yan hadn't told him that Li Ji had taken more than three hundred soldiers to his post.

Li Ziyi said, "There are rumors that the new commander will bring 3,000 troops from Shannan East Circuit to garrison the area—so many outsiders coming will surely take our jobs. Even if the new commander wants to strengthen the military, he probably won't need us Wei people..." Then he gritted his teeth and said, "Let's see. If the incoming army is less than a thousand, then we'll follow Vice General Nie's advice; otherwise..."

"What do you intend to do?" Nie Feng couldn't hold back any longer and punched Li Ziyi in the chest—of course, it was just a symbolic gesture, he didn't intend to fight—"If the new commander really brings several thousand soldiers, even with ten thousand or so men here, there are no commanders, and most of them are unarmed. How can we resist them? I'm afraid that this city of Guixiang will turn into a battlefield of carnage in a short time!"

Li Ziyi was stunned.

After their defeat, at least 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers from the former Weizhou army fled to the surrounding countryside, destitute and without means of livelihood. They all hoped that the prefecture would raise its recruitment flag again so that they could have a chance to return to the army. Unfortunately, Feng Yan was only temporarily in charge of Weizhou, and with the treasury empty, he dared not recruit too many soldiers. He could only organize the 10,000 or so soldiers who had surrendered in the few counties that had retreated there. He did not employ any of the scattered soldiers who came to join him.

Five or ten men were simply driven out of the city; but if a former general led dozens or hundreds of men, Feng Yan could only pass the buck: "The court has not appointed a prefect, or an observer, or a military governor. My official rank is low and my position is small. How dare I act on my own? Let's wait for the official to come before we decide what to do."

Therefore, rumors spread that the imperial court had appointed a new military governor of Weibo, and many former soldiers and generals began to gather near Guixiang. Originally, they were just there to gather information, but as the number of people increased, so did the ideas. Li Ziyi and dozens of other leaders held several meetings and finally decided to gather together to put pressure on the new military governor!

The best outcome would be that the new commander, fearing our large numbers and strength, would not only agree to take us in but would also never dare to mistreat us again; the next best outcome would be that the new commander would flee in fear, and the court, seeing that no one dared to take charge of Weizhou, would still order Xue Song to take charge... I don't know where the rumor came from, but it said that the new commander was coming with three thousand troops. After thinking about it, everyone realized that the best outcome was probably out of the question, so let's settle for the next best.

However, their demands were already vague, and their opinions were difficult to reconcile, leading to a fundamental contradiction between the plan and the objective—if the new commander really sent a large army, would they be cowardly and flee? If he didn't send a large army, then resolving the dispute peacefully would be the best option…1

Chapter Nineteen: Soldier or Thief?

Li Ji estimated that as long as production could be largely restored, Weibo would not necessarily lack grain, cloth, and even salt. However, other supplies, including money, iron, and warhorses, would need to be purchased from other states, making transportation crucial.

Land transport is far less costly and faster than water transport, so since Weizhou occupies a section of the Yongji Canal, it should make good use of it. Therefore, after obtaining Xue Song's consent, he traveled northeast from Anyang to the Huan River, then found a boat north of Huan River City and sailed eastward.

Of course, he would send someone ahead by fast horse overland to your hometown to announce his imminent arrival.

From the Huan River to Guixiang, the waterway was less than a hundred li. Traveling by tow rope, it took a day and a half, finally arriving at the Guixiang dock on the afternoon of the seventh day of the fifth lunar month. He had expected the chief clerk to be there with his officials to greet him, but to his surprise, the shore was teeming with people, mostly commoners; neither officials nor banners were in sight…

Even if the Chief Clerk ordered all the elders of the city to come and welcome him, shouldn't he be standing in the most conspicuous place? And those surrounding him should all be gentry and elders, dressed in silk robes and satin gowns, not all in simple cloth clothes. Gradually, the ship drew closer, and the faces on the shore became clearly visible. Hundreds of soldiers, armed with weapons, surrounded the dock, most facing outwards, blocking the flow of people from all directions, their posture suggesting a formidable enemy. There were no officials like the Chief Clerk on the dock, only a general in a blue robe leading a dozen or so men in plain clothes…

Moreover, most of those dressed in plain clothes had murderous intent on their faces and carried swords at their waists!

Jiao Xiwang sensed something was wrong and instinctively stepped behind Li Ji, warning, "Could it be... could it be that thieves are causing trouble?!"

Li Ji shook his head: "If they were bandits, they would have already started fighting on the shore... They are probably former soldiers from Weizhou who have come to ask me to take them in." Xue Song had given him a heads-up about the possibility of this happening.

Jiao Xiwang said in a trembling voice, "How can there be so many people... If there is a request, a few people should be publicly recommended..."

Li Ji pointed: "Those people on the dock, I suppose they are the representatives... elected by the public."

“Then these remaining people shouldn’t have come so close…” Jiao Xiwang couldn’t help but pace back and forth. “What are the officials in the prefecture doing? They should send troops to drive them all away! Coming in such a surging manner is not a plea for orders, but clearly an attempt to coerce Commander Li!”

Li Ji smiled coldly: "Why would I fear their coercion? If they have ill intentions, they can fire a few volleys of arrows to prevent me from reaching the shore. But I will have all my soldiers on the shore, and my thousands of troops will be like weeds!"

Hearing that the other side might shoot arrows, Jiao Xiwang panicked even more, shrinking back and hiding completely behind Li Ji. Li Ji turned around and smiled: "Supervisor, please go back to your cabin and sit down. I will go ashore first to talk to them."

Then a general on the dock called out loudly, "Has the General arrived? This humble general has come to greet him."

Li Ji pointed behind him and said, "The banner is right here, don't you recognize it? Since you know I'm here, why don't you bow?"

A shout boomed like thunder, causing a commotion on the shore. The young general was the first to kneel, followed by the burly men beside him, and then the crowd outside the circle…

Seeing this, Li Ji felt somewhat relieved. In truth, he was still somewhat worried. Although Jiao Xiwang had boasted, he ultimately only had about three hundred soldiers under his command, scattered across various boats protecting his subordinates, families, and property. Even if they landed, they couldn't be organized hastily. What if the enemy attacked while they were crossing? A hundred against one—his side had little chance of victory.

I'm here to assume my post, not to seize territory. I'm completely unprepared!

As the ship gradually approached the dock, laborers came to set up gangplanks. Just as Li Ji was about to take a step, Gao Ying leaned closer and whispered, "The newcomers are not friendly. Commander Li, you must be careful. It would be better if I, your humble servant, went first and confronted them."

Li Ji waved his hand: "No need for Gong Chu, I can decide this matter myself."

Yin Shen also volunteered, saying, "I will escort Commander Li ashore." He felt quite guilty. He had already sent men to infiltrate Weizhou to investigate the local customs and conditions. How could he have failed to report such an important matter beforehand? If he didn't bravely go now, he feared the commander would not forgive him later... If only Generals Nan Jiyun and Lei Wanchun were also on this leading ship!

Li Ji nodded—after all, Yin Shen was a capable fighter, unlike Gao Ying who was merely a scholar—and then swaggered ashore on a plank, with Yin Shen leading a dozen or so personal guards following behind.

Li Ji approached the kneeling crowd but remained silent, merely surveying them with cold eyes. Only after his personal guards had arranged the folding chairs did he plop down, remove the long sword from his waist, place his hands in front of him, and then speak: "Get up, all of you."

"Thank you, General Xie!"

Li Ji first turned his gaze to the young general in the lead and slowly asked, "Who are you?"

"This humble general is Nie Feng, a minor official of Weizhou."

In the military, the general rank system was as follows: below the commander-in-chief was the military commander, then the military commander, the ten generals (i.e., regular generals), and the deputy general. In modern terms, the deputy general was the lowest-ranking officer, and below that, one could only be considered a non-commissioned officer. As for Nie Feng's title of "discreet deputy general," it means that he had the qualifications of a deputy general but did not actually command troops.

Of course, this rank is not a military rank. This is the same sequence as an army of 10,000 men and an army of 1,000 men.

Upon hearing the name Nie Feng, Li Ji frowned slightly and immediately looked the man up and down—he was probably around the same age as himself, in his early twenties but not yet thirty, with a broad face, thick eyebrows and a thin beard, quite a spirited young man.

"So you are Nie Feng—Commander Xue of the Zhaoyi Army once mentioned you to me..."

Xue Song recommended Nie Feng to him. Li Ji feigned gratitude, but was secretly wary—if you recommended a civil official, that would be fine, but since he is a military general, and you value him so much, and he is willing to serve you, why won't you accept him? Is leaving this person with me out of good intentions or malice? Are you trying to plant a spy by my side?

Hearing Nie Feng identify himself as a "junior deputy general," I felt a little relieved—so he's a low-ranking military officer, and so young, no wonder… Xue Song once commanded the Weizhou army, so most of the upper and middle ranks of the Weizhou army had followed him to Fuyang. Someone of Nie Feng's status and position probably wouldn't be able to get in. After all, Xue Song's family probably doesn't have much surplus grain; they can't support too many officers and soldiers for the time being.

Where is the Prefect of Weizhou?

"Reporting to the Commander, the Chief Clerk is still in the city..."

Why didn't you come to greet me?

"This..." Nie Feng smiled awkwardly, "I dare not lie. The Chief Clerk saw that everyone had gathered and feared that the city might fall, so he dared not leave without permission..."

"Then why have all these people gathered here?"

Before Nie Feng could answer, a burly man beside him spoke up first: "The straw men have come to pay their respects to the commander and have something to report!"

"And who are you?"

“Li Ziyi, former deputy general of Weizhou, pays his respects to the commander.”

Li Ji glanced at Li Ziyi and thought, "Wow, he's really ugly..." Before he could ask any more questions, the commoners around him started to chime in with their names—"Former Deputy General of Weizhou, Yang Shigu," "Former Rear Guard of Weizhou, so-and-so," "Former Junior Officer of Weizhou, so-and-so"...

Li Ji slammed his scabbard down heavily and roared, "Since you all served in the army, how can you be so undisciplined? The Weizhou army is so unruly, no wonder they were defeated in the battle east of Changle! Stand still, from left to right, from front to back, and report one by one!"

His naturally loud voice was quite intimidating; everyone who heard it paled, and several people in the back rows visibly trembled. After a while, everyone finally calmed down and re-signed—but it was still a bit chaotic, because the commander said "from left to right," but was that according to his left-right rule, or according to ours?

"Do you have any reports to submit?"

"That's right..."

“One or two people will be publicly recommended to speak to me, and the rest will step back and not speak unless asked.”

The group exchanged bewildered glances.

They had planned perfectly well—in their own opinion—to threaten and coerce the new commander, but Nie Feng seized on their weakness and suggested to Li Ziyi that they should quickly disperse the crowd, and that only a dozen or so representatives should come with them to meet the new commander. However, with tens of thousands of people huddled together without a clear leader, and dozens of leaders whom everyone recognized, the situation was chaotic and difficult to organize quickly. No one was willing to disperse without achieving anything.

As the fleet bearing the banner of the military governor approached, Nie Feng had no choice but to lead the dozens of representatives to the dock to wait for them. The rest of the people refused to leave, so they were not allowed to push forward any further and should stay on the outer edge for the time being.

Even so, some people still raised objections: "What if the new commander comes ashore and kills us first?" Nie Feng immediately retorted: "If you are afraid, you can hide in the crowd and don't need to follow us!" But Li Ziyi and the others refused to take off their weapons. Nie Feng alone could not control the crowd and had no choice but to give up.

Then there were those who arrived late, squeezing in while shouting, "I want to go too!" causing extreme chaos at the dock. Fortunately, Li Ziyi and Yang Shigu, who were quite prestigious in the army, designated everyone, telling them who should come along and who wasn't qualified and should stay outside.

Therefore, Li Ji asked them to elect one or two people to come forward. It was normal for tens of thousands of people to have dozens of representatives, but with so many people talking at once, who could I talk to? After a long period of awkward silence, everyone finally stepped back and made way for Li and Yang.

As Li Ji sized up the two men, he thought to himself: Oh, these two are the workers' representatives... ugh, the vagrant representatives. Let's see if we can win them over as traitors... ugh, vagrant traitors, traitors to the people... anyway, that's the gist of it.

First, listen to the two men kowtow and state their requests—mainly Yang Shigu was speaking, while Li Ziyi was not as eloquent as Yang Shigu and only occasionally interjected to supplement—it was indeed hoped that Li Ji would re-enlist the soldiers who had fled from Weizhou and bring them under the command of the Weibo military governor.

Li Ji then pointed outside the circle: "Are they all here? How many people are there in total?"

Yang Shigu replied, "Most of them are here, but some have traveled far and have not yet had time to come and pay their respects to the commander. In total... there are more than ten thousand."

Li Ji thought to himself, "You don't even have a real number, and you can't even be accurate to the thousands. This is the extent of your organizational skills." He then asked, "After the defeat in Chang Le East, where did they all scatter to?" Immediately, his eyebrows furrowed: "Answer truthfully, without any concealment!"

The majority of the former Weizhou army were natives of Weizhou or people from nearby Bo, Bei, Xiang, and Ming prefectures. After their defeat and scattering, those with families fled back home, while those without could only band together for warmth. The mid- to high-ranking officers, even those who hadn't followed Xue Song into the Zhaoyi Army, all owned land in their hometowns—some inherited, some acquired through force after rising to power—and were temporarily secure in their livelihoods. Although they might want to wear military uniforms again, they would never be the first to jump out and test the new commander's limits. Therefore, those who gathered at the gates of Guixiang City were all lower-ranking officers or ordinary soldiers.

Among them, Li Ziyi and Yang Shigu were the highest-ranking deputy generals, and they also held the honorary titles of Senior Light Cavalry Captain and Light Cavalry Captain.