Datang: Rebirth of Li Chengqian, the beginning of the treason interrogation

Chapter 127: Natural Moat Anshi City

As Zhang Yunliang was shot down by Xue Wanche, Liaodong City was breached and then renamed Liaocheng by Li Ji.

Heavy raindrops fell, washing away the smell of blood.

"It's autumn now, and the weather is getting cooler. Your Highness, don't catch a cold!"

Queen Deok-sun came from behind and covered Li Chengqian with a cloak.

"I'm fine, but you, don't let yourself get frozen!"

There was a hint of tenderness in Li Chengqian's eyes.

Li Chengqian had experienced this personally. Over time, one can really fall in love and even have children.

After sowing the seeds so many times, it is inevitable that some of them will take root.

"Will not!"

Queen Deok-sun took Li Chengqian's hand and went into the inner room.

"I will be returning to Jincheng in a few days, so I will let Jinman take care of your highness's daily life."

Li Chengqian also nodded and said, "You really need to rest and recuperate now. You are not suitable for this kind of military life."

Two days later, Li Chengqian sent away the pregnant Queen Deoksun.

"Li Zhen, how are the preparations for Baekje immigration going?"

The autumn harvest has passed, and it is time to implement the immigration policy and truly incorporate the land of Baekje into the land of China.

Soon, Silla will also become a territory of the Tang Dynasty as a dowry, and with the implementation of Li Chengqian's immigration, there will be no more Koreans.

"Laizhou has already cleared the area and built houses for the people. People from Baekje have already left on the grain transport ships."

Li Zhen replied.

He and Li Dejian are now the governors of Sabi City and Ungjin City respectively. They are the people in charge of the Tang army in Baekje and are responsible for managing all matters in Baekje.

"Master Daochen, the suppression of the nobles before was not thorough enough. If you let him continue to suppress them, you don't have to kill anyone, but you have to make them spit out all their property."

Baekje was Li Chengqian's demonstration land, where he suppressed the powerful, divided the wealth, made the lower-class people active and stimulated production.

"What about the meritorious officials?" Li Zhen asked again. He was also afraid that he could not grasp the right measure.

"Don't move for now, but later, don't let them move if they shouldn't."

You have to eat one bite at a time. People like the Black Tooth Clan must not be touched. As for the local clans and powerful families, kill some and leave some.

Li Chengqian will find ways to make the big clans like the Heichi clan move to the Central Plains.

"Are there any people in the Tang Dynasty willing to move to Baekje?"

Immigration of Chinese people is definitely necessary, and this is the most critical part of the entire plan.

"Yes, and there are quite a lot!"

The conditions Li Chengqian offered in Baekje were very favorable, providing homes for the people, allocating land, and exempting them from taxes for five years.

Moreover, there will be no oppression from aristocratic families on this land, because those nobles will be completely defeated by Li Chengqian.

In addition, the Bad Kids specifically promoted the program in the countryside, so families who were unhappy with their lives were willing to come.

"This palace wants to create a different kind of prosperity here. The contracted land production system must be implemented to ensure people's livelihood."

During this eastern expedition, Li Chengqian discovered another serious problem.

That was the so-called equal-field system of the Tang Dynasty, which was never implemented in places like Huzhou and Laizhou where the emperor was far away.

The lower class people were just tenants of the powerful clans.

In such a social environment, production cannot be stimulated, and how can the national strength be increased?

"Your Highness's previous instructions, Dejian and I have kept them in mind."

Li Zhen said solemnly.

"Governing the world is no easier than conquering it."

Li Chengqian's ideas were too advanced. Based on the equal-field system, he upgraded it to a contract system. All land in Baekje was state-owned and no buying or selling was allowed.

Families were allocated land and forests according to the number of people in the family, making it difficult for powerful people to annex land through buying and selling.

After Baekje was defeated, there were no more powerful states left.

What limits development is productivity.

Li Zhen and Li Dejian were worthy of his trust, and this unprecedented reform began in Baekje, Silla and even Goguryeo.

As for the Tang Dynasty, it would have to wait until he came to power before it could start to heal its wounds.

"Without the oppression of the aristocratic clans, we will definitely be able to develop in Baekje. The general guidelines and strategies have been listed. I will send a copy after I return."

In fact, land reform has already begun in Sabi City and Ungjin City, and it will be effective next year.

The old nobles were massacred by Li Chengqian during the war in Baekje, but who can guarantee that new nobles will not emerge?
From the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Warring States Period, they were princes.

Clan families emerged after the Eastern Han Dynasty.

After the Song Dynasty, it became a surname.

It is absolutely impossible to eradicate this phenomenon.

"Just do whatever you want, as long as you follow the general direction."

Li Chengqian knew that there would never be absolute fairness, there would always be strong and weak.

"I haven't practiced shooting for several days. Give me some moves."

Li Chengqian walked straight into the courtyard, where swords, spears, halberds, and the six arts of a gentleman were laid out. The original owner had a strong foundation, but after breaking his leg, he had been in disuse for a long time.

From then on, Li Chengqian also started to practice sword and gun, and practice martial arts to keep fit.

Occasionally, I can even exchange a few moves with Li Zhen.

Spring passes and autumn comes.

As soon as late autumn came, snow began to fall in Baekje and Goguryeo, which seemed to have cooled the war in Jiaozuo.

However, the generals of both sides became more cautious.

"General Liang, Liaodong City, Jian'an City, and Baiyan have been lost one after another. Now only Anshi City is left. The morale of the Tang army is high and the troops are at full strength. They have already reached Anshi City."

General Zou Dingguo of the Right Guard of Anshi made a statement in the meeting hall.

Liang Wanchun on the throne remained unmoved. Anshi City was now the last city of the second line of defense. How could he retreat?

He is the protagonist, Liang Wanchun, the general of Anshi City who was praised to the sky by the Koreans and shot Li Shimin blind with one arrow from a hundred steps away.

Anshi City was the fortified city that blocked Li Shimin's advance.

Anshi City is surrounded by mountains on all sides and stands on steep cliffs. It is a mountain city, but it is not built of rocks, but of rammed earth.

All the vegetation around the city had been cut down, eliminating the possibility of setting fire to the mountain.

The terrain is dangerous, the city is ten meters high, and a watchtower is built on the top of the mountain, with a good view of a thousand miles away.

Anshi City has now become the last isolated city. By occupying Anshi City, the Tang army will be able to cross the Yalu River and reach Pyongyang.

If not, then they will be cut off here, unable to make any progress, and can only pin all their hopes on the Southern Army.

"Let the Tang army come, each unit has its own duties, what can they do to us?"

Li Zuosheng, the General of the Left Guard, said disdainfully.

"Pass the order and inform all the soldiers and civilians in the city that the Tang army will massacre everyone in every city they encounter. If you don't want to die, fight to the death."

Liang Wanchun had already prepared a countermeasure. The military and civilians would defend Anshi City to the death, and there would definitely be no accidents.

Yeon Gaesomun also once led more than 100,000 troops to attack, but still could not shake Anshi City at all.

Liang Wanchun and Yeon Gaesomun were political enemies.

In Liang Wanchun's eyes, Yeon Gaesomun was a traitor to the country, and the Tang army was the enemy of the country.

He would not give in to either of them.

He was a minister of the King of Goguryeo and also a general of Goguryeo.

Defending the land and punishing the bandits are our duties.

Each is his own master.

He was a loyal minister and also a meritorious official.

Li Shimin also made a great promise to Liang Wanchun, but Liang Wanchun remained unmoved and would rather be the border town defender who was not recognized by the court.

Finally, when Li Shimin was withdrawing his troops, he ordered people to give silk and gold to Liang Wanchun to commend his loyalty.

"The cold winter has arrived, and the Tang army is short of food and clothing. I'm afraid they will leave soon. There's nothing to worry about." Li Zuosheng said again.

Just as he said, the Tang army is now facing a situation of having too few clothes.

Many useful items in the captured cities were destroyed.

"Captain Lin, how much of that thunderbolt fire is left? Is it enough to blow open the gate of Anshi?"

The arrival of the cold winter made Li Ji anxious. He was eager to break into the city and grab enough resources.

"Also, His Highness said that Anshi City is the strongest city, so he asked us to bring more."

After receiving Lin Zhi's affirmative answer, Li Ji immediately issued orders to the three armies to prepare for an attack.

"Manager Li, no, scouts report that Gao Yanshou's 150,000-strong army has already stationed in the north of Mount Xi. If our army attacks Anshi City, we will be attacked from both sides." Li Daozon immediately stopped him.

"Yes, if we want to attack Anshi City, we must swallow up all the 150,000 soldiers of Gao Yanshou's army." Zhang Shigui said.

But how can it be so easy?
The Tang army, at most, now has only 100,000 soldiers, which is an absolute disadvantage.

"Yes, how could I forget Gao Yanshou?"

Li Ji also stood up and paced back and forth.

Gao Yanshou's 150,000-man army represents the mobilization of the entire country's strength. If they can defeat Anshi City, they will be able to defeat the enemy with ease.

"Do you have any strategy to defeat the enemy?"

The Tang army fought hard by outnumbering the enemy, but they had the advantage of time and place.

But now, we don’t have any advantage of time or place at all.

When the Tang army attacked Anshi City, Gao Yanshou would lead his troops to charge into the rear army.

If the entire Tang army attacked Gao Yanshou's troops, the Goguryeo army in Anshi City would definitely not sit idly by and wait for death.

No matter what, we are attacked from all sides.

If he were a normal general, when faced with a situation where the enemy outnumbers us, he would think about how to avoid being conquered, rather than how to destroy the enemy.

The combined strength of the Anshi City defenders and Gao Yanshou's troops was more than twice that of the Tang army.

After a while, many generals shook their heads.

Li Daozong stood up at this time: "I still have the same opinion as before. Let's take a risky move. I will lead 5,000 elite cavalry to bypass Anshi City and go down from Gaimu City to directly attack Pyongyang. We must capture the leader first."

Although the Tang army believed that they were the strongest army, they did not dare to ignore the Goguryeo soldiers.

Faced with an army twice their size, no one would choose to fight head-on unless they had some desperate plan.

"It's too dangerous. Moreover, with such a large mobilization of troops, it is definitely not enough to catch the enemy's scouts."

As always, it was rejected.

"If that's the case, we have no choice but to withdraw our troops. Once winter comes, the soldiers won't be able to withstand the cold weather here." Li Daozon said dejectedly.

"General Manager Li, when we came here, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince instructed that if reinforcements from Goguryeo arrive and General Manager Li has no plan to defeat the enemy, I will let this young general hand this envelope to you, General Manager Li."

Lin Zhi handed an envelope to Li Ji.

(End of this chapter)