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

Chapter 234 Li Yi seizes the castle on a snowy night
Night falls.

The cold wind was howling, and the bonfire in the Tang army's temporary camp on the banks of the Gushui River flickered in the cold wind.

The water in the pot boiled, Li Yi scooped himself a small half cup of boiling water, took out two handfuls of fried rice from the dry food bag on his body and added it.

Just soak the fried rice in boiling water and it will be ready. A fragrant aroma will come out.

Luo Shixin's stomach rumbled. Li Yi smiled and handed him the fried rice porridge. "General Luo, have some fried rice porridge first."

"This stuff smells good. Can it be cured by soaking it in water?"

"Well, this is called fried rice. Compared to wheat rice that has to be steamed and dried several times, it's much more convenient. You can just pour hot water over it and eat it, or you can chew it dry."

Li Yi took the bowl and continued to brew.

Liu Heizi, Luo Wu, Dafu and other new recruits from Luojiabao are now Li Yi's personal soldiers, and they also use boiling water to soak and fry rice.

Li Yi also took out a piece of bacon, roasted it on the fire first, scraped it with a knife, sliced it and put it into the pot to cook. When it was almost cooked, he threw in a few handfuls of wild shepherd's purse picked from the river.

The salty and fragrant bacon is so delicious that it makes everyone drool.

Zhao Yongan and Wen Sigong, who had been defeated by Luo Shixin during the day, were now crowded in front of the fire with Luo Shixin, drinking fried rice porridge and eating bacon and wild vegetable soup together.

In the cold early spring outdoors,
To have a bowl of hot soup,
It is really a rare enjoyment. After the fatigue of marching all day and the worry of being on guard all the time, it is a rare moment of relaxation.

Luo Shixin led 1,500 men to defect and surrender.

There were 1,500 elite light cavalry, most of whom were old subordinates who had always followed Luo Shixin, and many of them were veterans of hundreds of battles. However, Wang Shichong did not know how to use them and actually used such a brave general like Luo Shixin as a scout.

Li Yi gave each team of 1,500 people a piece of bacon.

A team of fifty riders may not have much bacon, but they can roast it, scrape it, and then stew it in a big pot, and it will still be very fragrant.

These people ate voraciously, even sharing all the very salty soup. When they finished eating, they added more water to the pot and boiled another pot to share.

"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you. After we surrendered to Wang Shichong, we started to eat full meals for a few days. Later, Wang Shichong didn't like me, especially after I had a conflict with his nephew, he often withheld our military rations.

I volunteered to go out for reconnaissance this time, hoping to penetrate deep behind enemy lines, plunder the supply routes, and seize some food. Otherwise, my brothers would be hungry every day, and our horses wouldn't have enough to eat."

In fact, Li Yi had discovered some clues when Luo Shixin's troops arrived just now. They were generally very thin, both the people and the horses.

When they came, they had pots and pans and many other things tied to their horses.
"When Li Mi besieged Luoyang, there was a famine there. When food was most expensive, one ounce of gold could be exchanged for a bushel of rice. Although things are better now, a bushel of rice still costs several thousand."

Yang Guang gathered all the resources in the country and built the magnificent eastern capital Luoyang with the huge savings left by his father, Emperor Wen, during his reign.

The former Eastern Capital was so prosperous, relying on the Grand Canal, it was the true center of the world.

But now, Luoyang is about to become a dead city.

If soldiers can’t even get enough food to eat, how can the common people get any food to eat?

The cooked bacon was still quite salty. Even after adding a lot of water and a lot of wild vegetables, it was still too salty. Li Yi thought he should blanch it in water first, or even add more salt to absorb the saltiness.
Then stir-fry it so that it is fragrant but not salty.

But Luo Shixin ate with big mouthfuls and enjoyed it very much.

"The meat is cut too thin. It needs to be cut into larger and thicker pieces. It will taste better then. It will be oily and chewy when you take a bite." Luo Shixin said.

"There's still a little too much lean meat, but it tastes good, salty and fragrant enough," Zhao Yongan also said.

Even the sons of dukes and marquises such as Li Dejiang, Wu Junya, Wen Sigong and Qiu Shenyan enjoyed the meal very much.

Li Yi teased Li Dejiang, "Don't the nobles in Chang'an eat pork? Previously, when Du Ruhui's two sons had a fight, he punished them by making them eat pork, which the two brothers vomited."

Li Dejiang laughed heartily. "We're not that particular. We're happy to have something to eat. Even if pork doesn't taste good, it's still meat. It's better than wheat rice, right?"

Luo Shixin said quietly, "It's a blessing to have such salty and fragrant bacon to eat during the war. During the sieges of Luoyang and Puban, do you know what they ate? When the grain ran out, they ate bran, then tree bark, then even the birds, mice, and rats. Then they ate humans..."

He described those dark and tragic scenes in detail, which made Li Yi want to vomit.

Everyone was silent.

Luo Shixin finished his meal of cured meat, wild vegetables, and fried rice porridge, then wiped his mouth and said, "Thank you, Marquis Qianshui, for your hospitality to me and my brothers. I, Luo Shixin, have no way to repay you, so I will give you a fortune."

He proposed a daring plan of a surprise attack on the city.

"Wang Shichong still doesn't know that I have already defected. This is a great opportunity. I know that there are several forts on the western border of Guzhou. Although there are not many soldiers stationed there, they are not easy to capture under normal circumstances. They are easy to defend but difficult to attack, and they are guarded in dangerous places.
While they still don't know that I have led my troops back to Tang, I will lead my men to sneak into the fortress at night. The chances of success are very high. If we act quickly, we can even seize three or five of his fortresses before Wang Shichong reacts.
For Shallow Water Marquis, this is a great achievement, right?"

Li Yi was stunned when he heard this.

He had finally persuaded Luo Shixin to surrender and resolved the crisis, so he never thought so far.

All he wanted was to deliver the food to the Tang army camp at the front line at daybreak, complete the mission on schedule, and then recruit a fierce general and 1,500 elite light cavalry, which would be a great achievement.
The armor plates on their bodies clanged loudly with excitement.

"General, let's do it. This opportunity is rare and will never come again." Several people stood up together, and the swords on their waists hit the iron armor. Even Luo Wu, Luo Dafu and other new recruits from Luojiabao were full of desire to make achievements.

Li Yi sat by the fire,
He rubbed his knees with his hands. He could clearly feel the desire of these Guanzhong children. They were like hungry wolves now.

This is indeed an attractive opportunity.

But Li Mian knew that he was now the leader of this 4,000-man team, and his decision concerned the lives of 4,000 people.

If it fails, the consequences will be serious.

Luo Shixin sat opposite him, as calm as a young farmhand from a landlord's house who was staying up late to warm himself by the fire. "Guzhou City is only a few dozen miles away, and Wang Shichong's camp is thirty miles away.
Although he had tens of thousands of troops, he also successively eliminated many forts and strongholds outside Guzhou City.
But we are only attacking them unexpectedly and seizing the outer fort by trickery, not going to trample their camp.

"Does Qianshui Hou know why Wang Shichong asked me to rob the grain road?"

Li Yi looked at him.
"The reinforcements from the Crown Prince of Tang and Wang Shichong faced off outside Guzhou. The two sides engaged in several exploratory battles, but the Tang army was unable to break through Wang Shichong's blockade and could not approach Guzhou at all.

While Wang Shichong was intercepting the reinforcements, he was also intensifying his attack on Guzhou.

This attack on Guzhou was different from the last one. This time Wang Shichong came well prepared and brought a lot of siege equipment. Yesterday, Zheng's army attacked Guzhou several times.
Although Ren Gui fought hard to hold on,
But a section of Guzhou's city wall collapsed yesterday, and Ren Gui lost hundreds of lives to plug the gap, but how much longer can he hold out?"

Everyone's breathing became rapid.

No one expected that Wang Shichong's army would be so powerful this time.

"The three forts each have only a hundred defenders, but they block the main road to Guzhou. If they can't be taken out, they will threaten the food supply at any time."

Qiu Shenyan knelt in the snow and loudly requested: "I am willing to lead my troops to seize the stronghold."

Li Yi didn't reply immediately.

Luo Shixin laughed heartily and said, "Marquis Qianshui, I, Luo Shixin, played the trick of deceiving the city when I was fourteen years old in Qi County. It was easy to capture three small forts in one night."

Finally, Li Yi let out a long sigh.

Made up my mind.

"Alright, since we're on the battlefield, we have to consider the overall situation. General Luo, from now on, please make the deployment arrangements. I'll follow your instructions on how to fight."

Luo Shixin pressed the handle of his sword, "I have a request. If you can capture the fort and capture Wang Daoxun, I will personally chop off his head."

Li Yi saw hatred swirling in his eyes, and that hatred was more biting than the cold current under the ice of the Gu River.

The veterans behind him also became agitated when they heard the name.

"Okay." Li Yi nodded.

The snow particles are dense,

It rustled as it hit the armor.
At the end of midnight,
The first fortress appeared in the snow,
The snow is getting heavier.
This fortress stands on the top of the mountain, overlooking the surrounding area.

The fortress has a hundred soldiers stationed there and a beacon tower.

Luo Shixin appeared in front of the fort with hundreds of troops carrying torches and started cursing at the defenders.

"It's snowing so hard, why don't you open the door and let the brothers in to have some hot soup and warm themselves by the fire!" His roar was pierced by the wind and snow. "You bastards, you guys are so comfortable hiding in the fort, while our brothers are practically freezing to death."

Li Yi, along with his personal soldiers, ambushed in the darkness in the distance. He watched as the fort guards hesitated for a long time before finally lowering the drawbridge.

Luo Shixin was the first to cross the moat and enter the city using the drawbridge.
Soon, shouts of killing were heard.
"The fighting has started, the fighting has started," Luo Dafu squatted behind Li Yi, listening to the noise, his teeth chattering with excitement.

"Go!" Li Yi stood up, waved his arm vigorously and shouted.

Qiu Shenyan, Li Dejiang and others who had been unable to contain themselves for a long time immediately led their troops to rush forward.
When they rushed into the fort, Luo Shixin had basically resolved the battle.

He raised his head and roared excitedly to the sky, while his personal guards brought out a night-shining lion stallion with a long mane that trailed on the ground.
The horse was the famous horse from Dayuan that Pei Renji had given him, and the head belonged to Wang Daoxun, the son of Wang Shichong's eldest brother who had once taken his horse away.

Before the Zheng army could figure out what was happening, they were all slaughtered, and they didn't even have time to set off smoke signals.

Li Yi entered the fort,
Luo Shixin, having avenged his great vengeance, said cheerfully, "We have already taken the first fort. I will give you another hundred heads of Zheng soldiers, as well as the title of Right General Wuhou and Duke of Zhao."

"Hurry up and arrange for people to garrison this castle. We will hurry to the next one."

The sky is full of snow and wind,

Li Yi's heart was burning with excitement. Luo Shixin was so powerful that he captured a dangerous fortress without even unsheathing his sword.

(End of this chapter)