A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 225 The Imperial Seal is Obtained
Liaocheng.

Yu Wenzhi's eyes were red, and he called his sons Yu Wenchengji and Yu Wenchengzhi, "Move the gold, silver and jewelry here."

Their surrender was rejected. Li Shentong clearly wanted both merit and wealth, and was unwilling to leave them alive. Since that was the case, let's fight to the death.

Zouping Wang Bo, Qingzhou Li Si, Jinan Zhang Qing, Xuzhou Liu Fang, Jining Zhao San, Yizhou Sun Er and other Shandong peasant army leaders were summoned to the emperor's palace.

The boxes were opened one after another, and the glittering gold and silver jewelry made the peasant army leaders dazed.

"Originally, I intended to find a way out for all of you heroes and was willing to lead you to submit to Li Tang. Then you would not lose your titles of duke, marquis, or governor. However, Li Shentong was greedy and bloodthirsty. He told Prime Minister Zhao that Liaocheng was already on his chopping block.

If we capture Liaocheng, all the treasures in the city will be theirs, and our heads will also be their military merits.

Gentlemen, we have no way out. So, let's fight to the death. These gold, silver and jewels will be distributed among you and your brothers today."

Yu Wenzhi gritted his teeth, explained the critical situation, and directly took out a lot of gold, silver and jewelry to reward these newly recruited Shandong bandits.

These were the people whom Yu Wenzhi looked down upon in the past, but now he could only place his hopes on them.

After rewarding them with jewels, they were promoted to higher positions and given titles.

The six leaders, including Wang Bo, were all granted the title of Duke and appointed as General. Wang Bo was especially famous because he had the largest number of soldiers and horses under his command, with more than 5,000 people. He was also the first person to start an uprising at the end of the Sui Dynasty and had gathered more than 100,000 troops several times. Although he was defeated by Zhang Xutuo several times and had to hide in Changbai Mountain in Qi County, he was the most famous among the six thieves.

So he was granted the title of Duke of Qi, General of the Left Guard, and appointed as the Left Pushe of the Henan Dao Xingtai, the General Manager of Qizhou, and the Inspector, and promised that after defeating Li Shentong, he would marry his sister Yuwen to him.

Wang Bo, who was once the first to rebel against the Sui Dynasty and the first to raise dust in the Daye Campaign, called himself Zhishilang, but he was just a rural landlord and tyrant in Zouping, Qi County. Although he was the first to raise an army, eight years later, he only has 5,000 troops.

He accepted Yu Wenhuaji's imperial edict and came to the king to defend him, but in fact he had no good intentions. He had heard that Yu Wenhuaji had brought a lot of gold, silver and treasures from Jiangdu, as well as many beauties from Yang Guang's harem, so he wanted to find an opportunity to rob him.

Unexpectedly, he was trapped here by the Tang army led by Li Shentong. He didn't care when Yu Wenzhi wanted to surrender before.

But now that Li Shentong won't let them surrender, he can only fight to the death.

The six thieves were made Dukes of the State.

Those below the Six Bandits were all given random posts, small soldiers were given the rank of Seventh Grade, and all leaders, big and small, were given official titles and nobility.

The Xiaoguo Army that had followed all the way from Jiangdu had experienced the great defeat at Tongshan, several rebellions by Sima Dekan, Zhang Kai and others, as well as the surrender of Chen Zhilue, Zhang Tongren, Wang Gui and others to Li Mi. Now there were not many people left, so Yu Wenzhi promoted them and awarded them medals again.

The morale of tens of thousands of people in Liaocheng was temporarily boosted, and Yu Wenzhi even ordered the slaughter of horses and mules to provide the soldiers with a full meal.

He was like a gambler who had lost all hope in gambling.

The war drums are beating again,

After breakfast and rest, the Tang army launched another attack.

just this time,
Beizhou assassin Zhao Junde no longer had the energy to fight. He led his troops forward slowly, slacking off and working without putting in any effort. He shouted slogans loudly, but he didn't fight hard at all. He didn't climb the city wall himself like last time, holding a steel knife in his mouth and braving arrows.
The local military leaders who had recently joined the army, such as the Weizhou Governor Yuan Baozang, the Jizhou Governor Fude, the Cangzhou Governor Wang Xiaode, the Qingzhou Governor Qi Gongshun, and the Zizhou Governor Zheng Qianfu,

It's all the same.

This morning, Zhao Junde had already climbed onto the city wall, and all the troops were working very hard. Just when Liaocheng was about to be captured, Li Shentong sounded the call to action.

Later the explanation was that they were taking a break to have breakfast.

But everyone had fought their way through troubled times, and everyone could see that Li Shentong's intention was that he didn't regard these new followers as his own people.

I don't want them to capture the city first and gain merit, and I don't want to reward them as agreed.

In that case, let him have fun by himself.

From noon till dark,
The offensive is weak,

On the contrary, the morale of the Liaocheng defenders was high.

Li Shentong was anxious at this time.

But it's too late.

He also sent out the Guanzhong government troops he had brought with him, but they also failed.
On the contrary, the loss is not small.

He had no choice but to withdraw his troops again.

at night,

Wang Bo and others led more than 10,000 troops out of the city for a night attack, which caught Li Shentong off guard again.

When Zhao Junde and others saw the enemy attacking, they not only did not organize a defense immediately, but instead ordered their troops to retreat at the first opportunity. Other troops followed suit and fled, leaving Li Shentong's central army exposed.

Li Shentong's two fists could not defeat four hands.
Seeing that the situation was not good, he hurriedly rode away on horseback with his personal soldiers. The central army was leaderless and quickly collapsed.

Seeing this, Zhao Junde and others retreated dozens of miles again.
Overnight,
The siege of Liaocheng was lifted.

Li Shentong escaped for more than a hundred miles and slowly gathered his defeated soldiers, but retreated back to Weizhou, not daring to approach Liaocheng again.

Yuwen Shiji of Jibei also collected a batch of grain and transported it to Liaocheng.
Yu Wenzhi turned misfortune into fortune and cried out that Heaven would not abandon him.

When I was happy,

After receiving the urgent report, Dou Jiande led an army of 100,000 southward, only 50 miles away from Liaocheng.

Yu Wenzhi, who was originally dancing with joy, was stunned for a long time, then sat down on the ground, "It seems that God wants to kill me."

Prince Qi Yuwen Zhiji was also panicked, "Your Majesty, what should we do?"

Yu Wenzhi was already in despair. He called his two sons and cried bitterly.

Wang Bo and six other heroes who defended Liaocheng felt secretly contemptuous when they saw this scene.

After returning, Wang Bo immediately summoned his confidants to discuss the matter.

"Yu Wenzhi is so cowardly and incompetent, he will definitely not be able to defeat Dou Jiande. We must make plans early."

"Why don't we just kill Yu Wenzhi, seize Empress Xiao, and then run away with all the gold and silver treasures, cross the river to the south, and then return to Changbai Mountain."

"What's the point of going back to Changbai Mountain? It's not a long-term solution." Wang Bo shook his head. They had previously relied on Li Mi, but when Li Mi was defeated, they came to plot against Yu Wenzhi. By accident, they had a big battle with the Tang army.

Now it is difficult to join the Tang Dynasty.

"Why don't we just open the city and lure Dou's army in, and then we can use this victory to attack Hebei."

Wang Bo did not agree to kill Yu Wenhuaji because he had seen the elite of the Xiaoguo Army around him, and Yu Wenshiji from Jibei had sent another army and food.
Dou Jiande's army was already fifty miles away. If they fought here, they might end up being wiped out by Dou Jiande. Moreover, it was already this time, and continuing to occupy the mountain and act like a king was not a long-term solution.

night,
Wang Bo sent his confidant to sneak out of the city to meet Dou Jiande.
The next day,

The vanguard of Dou’s army arrived.

One flag was inscribed with "The Brave General," one was inscribed with "Duke of Handong County," and the other was inscribed with Liu.

A burly warrior rode out from under the banner,

"I am the vanguard under King Xia, the brave general Liu Heita, Duke of Handong. Why don't you surrender quickly?" Wang Bo heard this from the top of the city wall and stuck his head out.

"It turned out to be Liu Heizi."

"I heard that during the last Battle of Mangshan, he was captured by Wang Shichong and appointed as a cavalry general to guard Xinxiang. How did he become Dou Jiande's vanguard general?"

Wang Bo had previously served under Li Mi and was familiar with Liu Heita. "This Liu Heita is a scoundrel, cunning and tyrannical, addicted to alcohol and gambling. He and Dou Jiande are from the same hometown and have received a lot of support from Dou Jiande in the past.

Later, Liu Heita defected to Hao Xiaode. At that time, my 100,000-man army was defeated by Zhang Xutuo in Linyi and was forced to march north to join forces with Sun Xuanya and Hao Xiaode.

Later, the allied forces of 100,000 marched south again to attack Zhangqiu. Zhang Xutuo led 20,000 infantry and cavalry to support them.
That great battle was so fierce that the sun and moon went dark, and the sky and the earth changed color," Wang Bo recalled the past, "At that time, among the 100,000 righteous troops, only Liu Heita defeated several generals of Zhang Xutuo in succession.

Later, Zhang Xutuo sent out two of his killing gods, Luo Shixin and Qin Shubao, to fight Liu Heita side by side, and Liu Heita was defeated.

Alas, once Liu Heita was defeated, no one could stop Zhang Xutuo's army. One hundred thousand men were beaten and fled in all directions, and I never recovered from the blow.

After the battle with Liu Heita, he went to join the Wagang Army. Later, he followed Li Mi and together with Shan Xiongxin and Xu Shiji, they defeated Qin Shubao and Luo Shixin at Dahai Temple and killed Zhang Xutuo.

Unexpectedly, Liu Heita has now abandoned Wang Shichong and joined Dou Jiande."

Feelings,
Wang Bo ordered, "Open the city gates and welcome General Liu into the city."

The city gate opens,

Wang Bo personally welcomed Liu Heita,
"General Liu, long time no see. I hope you are well."

Liu Heita stepped forward with a smile and said, "King Xia saw your letter last night and was very happy. He knew that we were old friends, so he specially asked me to come here."

"General Liu, please enter the city."

"Let's go into the city together."

The Hebei troops entered Liaocheng without losing a single soldier.

Yu Wenzhi was still drinking with Zhiji and his son. They had completely given up.

Wang Bo and Liu Heita rushed into Yu Wenhuaji's palace.

His men laid down their weapons and surrendered one after another; no one was willing to resist any longer.

Yu Wenzhi was captured alive.

Empress Xiao and other concubines of Yang Guang also fell into the hands of Xia Jun.

Fortunately, Liu Heita received Dou Jiande's order, which ordered him to protect Empress Xiao and others and not to harass them. He even gave preferential treatment to a group of former Sui Dynasty officials.

Dou Jiande entered the city in the afternoon.
He went to meet Empress Xiao, called himself a subject, and even wore white clothes to mourn Yang Guang.

Empress Xiao also readily handed over the imperial seal and other imperial seals, a total of eight seals.

Dou Jiande paid a visit to Empress Xiao.

He ordered people to bring Yu Wenhuaji and his accomplices Yu Wenzhiji, Yang Shilan, Yuan Wuda, Xu Hongren, Meng Jing, Zhao Xingshu and others to Liaocheng before a group of Sui Dynasty officials.
"cut!"

"Hanging heads at the camp gate!"

"Take Yuwen Wenhuaji, Yuwen Zhiji, Yuwen Chengji, Yuwen Chengzhi, and others in prison carts back to Xiangguo and behead them."

Yu Wenhuaji's Shangshu You Pushe, Guanglu Dafu, and Hebei Dao Pacification Ambassador, Cai Guogong Pei Shiju led many Sui officials to submit to Dou Jiande and was directly appointed as the Minister of Personnel.
As for the surrendered soldiers and officials in Liaocheng, Pei Shiju suggested that they be allowed to go free.

Those who are willing to join the Xia Army are welcome, and those who want to go home will be given travel expenses and dismissed.

Nearly 10,000 people chose to return home, and many officials chose to leave.

Wang Bo and six others joined the Xia army. Wang Bo was appointed Duke of Qi County, Governor of Qizhou, and Inspector. The other five were also granted the positions of County Duke and Inspector. Their official positions and titles were not as high as those granted by Yu Wenhuaji, and they were all somewhat dissatisfied.

Pei Shiju also persuaded Dou Jiande to make friends with Luoyang and sent an envoy to Luoyang to meet Emperor Huangtai, asking him not to rush to become emperor.

Dou Jiande also adopted them one by one. Pei Shiju also recommended Cui Junsu, the former Minister of War of the Daye Dynasty, He Chou, the Minister of the Imperial Household, as well as Liu Diao, Ouyang Xun, Yu Shinan and others.
Dou Jiande appointed Cui Junsu as Prime Minister, He Chou as Minister of Works, Liu Diao as Minister of the Left, Yu Shinan as Minister of the Imperial Household, and Ouyang Xun as Minister of Rites. Other remaining Sui Dynasty officials were also appointed according to their abilities.

Pei Shiju was treated with great care by Dou Jiande and proposed to make friends with distant countries and attack nearby ones. He first united with Luoyang, respected Emperor Tai Yang Tong, accepted the title bestowed by the Luoyang court, and worked together with Luoyang to deal with Li Yuan who was taking over Li Mi's old subordinates and territory.

First, seize the land north of the Yellow River and east of the Henan Grand Canal.

This way, at least we can form a three-way balance of power with Li Yuan of Guanzhong and Emperor Huangtai of Henan. Then we can wipe out Li Yi of Youzhou, Gao Kaidao of Beiping, Deng Song of Yingzhou and others who are attached to Li Yuan.

Then they fought for the Central Plains.

"Make friends with distant countries and attack nearby ones. Luoyang is close and Chang'an is far away, right?" Liu Heita interrupted.

"No, although Guanzhong is far away, Li Yuan has now sent Zhang Daoyuan, Li Shentong, Li Xiaoji and others to recruit Li Mi's old territories in Henan. Now, between us and Luoyang, it is actually Li Yuan's territory that is between us and Luoyang.
If the King of Xia also submits to Li Yuan in Guanzhong like Luo Yi of Youzhou, we will be restricted and unable to develop. Therefore, we must submit to Luoyang, respect Yang Tong, and then fight with Li Yuan for Li Mi's old territory, and then return to seize Youying.
As long as Hebei is under the rule of King Xia, we will have the strength to fight for the world."

"Okay, I'll listen to Prime Minister Pei. From now on, I'll ask Prime Minister Pei to preside over the court, formulate court etiquette, and issue laws and decrees."

Dou Jiande was receptive to advice and humble. This countryman, who was born as a village chief, had increasing prestige in Hebei and his army was becoming increasingly powerful. However, he only called himself the King of Xia and was not in a hurry to declare himself emperor.

Even after he captured Liaocheng and obtained the imperial seal, he did not declare himself emperor.

Even when he got Empress Xiao and other concubines and beauties of Yang Guang, he treated them all with great courtesy and without any evil thoughts.

Dou Jiande stationed his troops in Liaocheng.
He sent envoys to Wei, Ji, Qi, Qing, Wei, Yun, Hua, Cao, Yan, and Xu, the former subordinates of Li Mi, to persuade them to surrender and to confer official titles and ranks on them.

Weizhou,

Li Shentong, covered in dust and dirt, had no choice but to release Wei Zheng and Cui Mingan himself and apologize to them.

Faced with the current situation, the two could only remain silent.

The good situation was ruined by the greedy Li Shentong. Even several people including Zhao Junde directly led their territories and troops to defect to Dou Jiande.

"What should I do now? Secretary Wei, please teach me."

Wei Zheng did not care to blame Li Shentong, "The most urgent task now is to defend Weizhou. Weizhou cannot be lost again. But now Zhao Junde has surrendered to Dou Jiande in Beizhou, and Bozhou has fallen into Dou Jiande's hands.
We can only ask Li Shiji of Liyang to lead troops to support us, and at the same time send people to Youzhou in the north to ask Youzhou Governor Luo Yi to send troops south to contain Dou Jiande."

"But Dou Jiande's army of 100,000 is coming with great force. Can we defend Weizhou by ourselves? Should we temporarily avoid the attack and retreat to Liyang to join Li Shiji?" Li Shentong hesitated.

"Weizhou must not be lost. Otherwise, Liyang will be isolated and difficult to defend. Then the entire area north of the Yellow River will belong to Dou Jiande, and it will be difficult to recover."

"Okay, then let's defend it." Li Shentong gritted his teeth.

Wei Zheng returned to his residence and immediately wrote a letter to Li Yi in Chang'an, in which he scolded Li Shentong harshly. He also said that he wanted to abandon everything here and go back to Chang'an directly.

But the situation is like this now, he can't just leave like this.

At the end of the letter, he sent Li Yi New Year's greetings and expressed his reminiscence of Li Yi's family's persimmon liquor.

(End of this chapter)