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

Chapter 241: Appointed as the Grand Secretary and Conferred the Title of County Duke

Twilight Quadruple.

On the top of Tongluo City in Guzhou, a hundred miles east of Luoyang, the red Tang flag fluttered in the wind.

There were still many damaged sections of the rammed earth city wall that needed urgent repair, and there were large bloodstains on many parts of the ice and snow outside the city.

The smoke of war has not yet completely dissipated.
The celebration party has begun.

Ren Kui, the elderly governor of Guzhou, accompanied his student, the Crown Prince Jiancheng, on the city wall, looking at the winding Gushui River in the distance, merging eastward into the Luo River.

"Congratulations to the prince for defeating Wang Shichong and making a great contribution." Ren Gui bowed.

Li Jiancheng has an upright figure, wearing gilded silk armor, with silk as the base, rhinoceros skin armor plates embedded in the middle, and covered with woven gold brocade. The armor surface is embroidered with twined branches and precious flower patterns, and the seams are decorated with gilded silver buckles, and some parts are inlaid with glass beads and mother-of-pearl pieces.

It is a sleeveless front-buttoned armor, connected to a pleated silk skirt, with a gold dragon pattern on the chest, cloud-shoulder shoulder guards, red silk cap hanging from both shoulders, knee-length guard with eight-treasure necklace pattern, adorned with jade rings and a gold belt buckle with three lotus flowers.

The prince stood facing the wind, looking majestic.

Jiancheng put his hands on the battlements of the city wall and felt proud as he listened to his teacher's praise.

During the siege of Guzhou, he followed the advice of Prince's Secretary Li Gang and his good friend Wei Ting, and volunteered to lead troops out of Guandong. Now the results have proved that this trip was right.

Not only did he snatch Erlang's opportunity, but he also made military achievements.

The battle lasted less than half a month, but it was fought beautifully.

Let Erlang continue to build Changning Palace for my late mother on Shenheyuan.

"Your Highness, the celebration banquet is ready." Wei Ting stepped forward. "According to your Highness's instructions, Li Yi and the nine surrendered generals will be seated in the front row."

Li Jiancheng turned and said to his good friend, "Li Yi has made great contributions this time. You should toast him a glass of wine later and put aside your grudges. To be honest, you two don't have any major grudges. You will be together in the Eastern Palace from now on, so stay in harmony."

Wei Ting nodded reluctantly.

Ren Gui smiled and said, "Although Qianshui Hou is young, he is indeed very capable. With his eloquence alone, he managed to turn Wang Shichong's nine generals and tens of thousands of soldiers against him.
If Li Yi hadn't taken this drastic action, the battle for Guzhou would have been far from over, and even Guzhou City might have been lost."

"Your Highness must make good use of this young man. He is a truly talented person."

"Well, Li Yi is a little arrogant." Jiancheng said with a smile.

"Young people are all like this. Capable young people are even more arrogant."

Wei Ting said, "Your Highness has been very kind to Li Yi, but he has always been very close to the Second King. We must be on guard."

Jiancheng's smile faded, but Ren Gui said, "What the Second King can give to Li Yi, the Crown Prince can also give, and even more."

Three quarters of the evening hour,

The lights in the Guzhou Governor's Mansion were brightly lit.

Dozens of oil lamps lit up the hall as bright as day, and the dining table was filled with sumptuous food and wine.

The crown prince, wearing gilded silk armor, raised his wine glass high.

"Comrades, thank you for your hard work and great achievements. Let us celebrate together tonight!"

"This first cup of wine is dedicated to Marquis Qianshui. General Li, without sacrificing a single soldier, persuaded nine generals to surrender and instigated a rebellion among the army. This is the greatest achievement of this expedition!"

The generals raised their glasses.

Li Yi saw the Internal History Assistant Minister, Military Commander Tang Jian, the Right Guard General, Deputy Chief of the March, Yang Mao, and the Left Guard General, Chief of the Central Army, Wang Changxie.
There were also the governor of Shanzhou, Prince Yong'an Li Xiaoji, the governor of Guzhou, Duke Guan Rengui, the general of the Left Guard and commander of Xiongzhou, Duke Ge Sheng Yanshi, the governor of Xiongzhou, Duke Yuan Shi Wanbao, the governor of Xiongzhou, and other big men who were also looking at him.
This group of people are all at least of the third rank.

There are both the emperor's confidants and the prince's teachers,

Except for Yang Gongren and Chai Shao in Longyou, most of the main military officers of the prince's original expedition against Li Gui are here today.

Li Yi stood up with the wine glass in his hand. In the glass was amber-colored Sangluo wine. He saw a smile on Wei Ting's lips out of the corner of his eye.

"Your Highness, I have only made a few minor contributions, which are not worth mentioning. This time, when the siege of Guzhou was lifted and Wang Shichong fled back to Luoyang in panic, it was all because of Your Highness the Crown Prince who personally went to the front line to command, and the nobles and soldiers who fought bravely.

I propose that this first cup of wine be offered to the soldiers who died in the Battle of Guzhou!"

At the Battle of Nangang Fort, Li Yi's army suffered over a thousand casualties, while Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin's army of 8,000 suffered over 2,000 casualties. Ren Gui's Guzhou City also underwent a brutal attack and defense, resulting in over 3,000 casualties.

There were few casualties among the Crown Prince Jiancheng and the troops of Shi Wanbao, Sheng Yanshi, and Lu Shaozong. After several days of confrontation, the battle was merely a small skirmish between the scouts of both sides.

Not counting the casualties among Qin Qiong and his men, the Tang army suffered 5,000 casualties, which was already a lot.

"Cheers to the fallen soldiers!" Li Jiancheng raised his glass.

Let's raise a toast to the fallen soldiers.

"For the second cup, I propose to toast the Emperor of Chang'an."

"The third cup is to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for his wise leadership."

"The fourth cup is to pay tribute to Lord Ren Guan for his meritorious service in defending Guzhou."

······
Everyone drank four cups in a row. Cheng Yaojin held up his cup and whispered to Qin Qiong, "This old brother of ours is quite clever. He drank four cups in a row and saved himself from being roasted on the fire."

"This fifth cup should be toasted to Marquis Qianshui," Jiancheng said with a smile. Everyone laughed and Li Yi also stood up to drink. The atmosphere was good. The dukes, generals, governors and governors did not start to scrutinize Li Yi in that way.

"I would like to toast to Luo Shixin, Qin Shubao, Cheng Yaojin and the other nine generals. Thank you for abandoning the dark and joining the light, and joining the Tang Dynasty." Jiancheng raised his glass again.

Qin Qiong and others also stood up and raised their glasses to thank His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for taking them in.

Sangluo wine is a famous wine in Puzhou. It was very famous during the Northern Wei Dynasty. It is brewed with Sangluo spring water. When mulberry leaves fall, water is taken to make wine, which has a unique taste.

Li Yi drank six cups in a row and was a little drunk, but fortunately the cup was small.

When the roasted lamb was served, Li Yi quickly cut a large piece to suppress the smell of alcohol.

After three rounds of drinking,

The prince waved his hand.

Then one of the prince's personal guards came in carrying a lance. "The shaft is red lacquer, wrapped in silver thread, with a tassel embellished with purple tassels. The tip is three feet long, and the entire lance is eighteen feet long. It's covered in shark leather and inlaid with mother-of-pearl."

These spears were all made by the imperial court. It takes five years to make one spear. I treasure them all.

Now I have specially bestowed it upon the Marquis of Qianshui, Shi Xin, Shu Bao, and others."

The horse lance is the most powerful weapon among all weapons and is the best weapon for charging into battle and breaking through the enemy's formation on horseback.

As for military generals, their favorite things are BMWs, precious spears, and precious armor, which are more fragrant than beauties.

Li Yi didn't know much about horse lances, but he could tell that these ten horse lances were extraordinary. Qin Qiong and other people who were good at using horse lances could tell at a glance that these horse lances were of extremely high standards.

The horse lances used by ordinary military generals can only be black lacquered plain poles, and the tip length cannot exceed two feet.

The red lacquer rod is wrapped with silver thread, and the knot is decorated with purple tassels. It can only be used by princes and crown princes. As for the shark leather and mother-of-pearl inlay, it is not something that ordinary military generals can use.

Generally, it takes three years to make a spear.

The ten spears in the prince's collection took five years to make.

Cheng Yaojin almost drooled when he saw these spears.

"Rouge is given to a beautiful woman, precious spear is given to a hero, and how can a good spear be without a good horse?" Jiancheng was very satisfied with the reaction of Old Cheng and the others, and said with a smile: "I have prepared a good horse from Dayuan for each of you."

These Dayuan horses were all donated by Kangguo, one of the Zhaowu states in the Western Regions.

As soon as the Tang Dynasty was established, Kangguo presented horses from Dayuan.

Li Yi had some understanding of the inside story. The so-called Kangguo offering Dayuan horses was actually a private trade between the Sogdian merchants of Kangguo in the Western Regions under the guise of tribute.
They claimed to be paying tribute, but in fact they were selling horses. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, good horses were in great need, and of course they needed the name of tribute from the Hu country even more, so they gave generous rewards.

However, those Dayuan horses were indeed good horses.

Dayuan was the place where Emperor Wu of Han sent troops on a long expedition to seize the Ferghana horses.

The last time Li Yi captured the Three Forts and Five Strongholds, Li Jiancheng gave him a thirteen-ring jade belt, a lance and two good horses, but none of them were as precious as the ones he had today.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has really invested a lot of money.

Cheng Yaojin and others accepted it happily and expressed their gratitude profusely.

The celebration banquet continues.
Various grilled meats and fish fillets were served, and there were musicians and prostitutes performing music, singing and dancing. It was hard to imagine that just a day ago, a war broke out in Tongluo City, Guzhou, resulting in countless casualties.

Now there is singing and dancing, and drinking and toasting.

The musicians played the song of Prince Lanling's March into Battle, and a group of prostitutes dressed up as warriors and performed a battle performance. Jiancheng was slightly drunk, and he clapped his hands to the beat with a smile on his face.

However, Li Yi felt that the performances of these female prostitutes had lost their martial arts and music elements and were too soft and entertaining.

This kind of music and dance must be performed by veterans who have experienced battles. They must sing and dance in a tragic and majestic style, with the accompaniment being ancient and melodious, rather than soft and graceful singing and dancing.

Cheng Yaojin was chewing a leg of lamb with relish, his beard was stained with wine-stained meat, and generals Niu Jinda, Wu Heita and others were also eating with hearty mouthfuls.

Qin Qiong held the wine glass and sipped slowly, as if he was worried about something.

After a song and dance,

Jiancheng was still not satisfied, so he held up his glass and announced that he would return in triumph in three days!
The report of victory has been sent to Chang'an by express horse at a speed of 800 miles to inform the emperor, and the soldiers' meritorious service records have also been sent to Chang'an.

"I have personally written to the Saint, requesting titles for Generals Wuyi, Shixin, and Shubao."

On the Suzaku Street where the snow has not yet melted,
The express message of 800 miles was delivered by galloping horse, and the knight carried a red flag and wrote a letter to report the victory.

"Good news,"

"A great victory in Guzhou, the Crown Prince defeated Wang Shichong in Guzhou, and the Marquis of Qianshui captured eight forts and surrendered nine generals."

"Great victory, great victory!"

The knights galloped by, shouting,

The people on the street started talking about it.

"Hasn't the Crown Prince just left the capital? It shouldn't have been half a month, right?"

"Yes, such a quick victory. Isn't Wang Shichong quite a capable fighter? Even Li Mi was defeated by him."

"Is Shallow Water Marquis so powerful? He captured eight forts and subdued nine generals. I remember Shallow Water Marquis was only sixteen. Is he the Li Yi who wrote the Three Character Classic and the Disciple Rules?"

Everyone was surprised by the news and the whole city was talking about it.

In Tai Chi Hall,

The copper crane incense burner exhales curls of smoke.
Emperor Li Yuan's hand trembled slightly as he grasped Lu Bu's robe, and a smile could not be concealed in the fine lines at the corners of his eyes. "Prince, this good news comes at the perfect time. It is the best birthday gift I have ever received."

Li Yuan gave the proclamation to the palace supervisor Lu Kuan and asked him to read it in the palace.

The ministers in the palace were somewhat surprised by the news. The entire proclamation was written in great detail. After hearing it, many people were surprised by how Li Yi was attacked while transporting grain, and then persuaded Luo Shixin with his mouth, and then swindled Wang Shichong's three forts and five strongholds in one night, and then withstood the two-day attack of eight generals including Qin Qiong, a famous general from Shandong, and finally broke into Qin Qiong's camp at night to persuade the eight generals to surrender.

The whole thing was like a fairy tale, but it was written by the crown prince himself, and it also had the signatures of the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Military Secretary Tang Jian, as well as the generals Yang Mao and Wang Changxie, the Duke of Guan Ren Gui, the Duke of Yuan Shi Wanbao, the Duke of Ge Sheng Yanshi and others.

"I've said before that Li Yi is a lucky general. Letting him accompany the Crown Prince on the expedition is truly remarkable. He's captured three forts and five strongholds, and recruited nine generals. That's remarkable."

"I remember he was originally a Great General of the Ninth Rank? Then he should be promoted to the third rank, and be granted the title of Supreme Pillar of the State, and promoted to the Founding Duke of Qianshui County."

Prime Minister Xiao Yu said, "Qin Shubao, Cheng Yaojin, Luo Shixin, and others are all renowned generals in Shandong. Li Yi recruited nine generals and seized eight forts in one fell swoop. It would be a waste of his talent to continue to serve as Inspector of the Cavalry General. I believe Li Yi is more than qualified to serve as the Crown Prince's Left Guard Commander."

"Qin Qiong and nine other generals will also serve under the Crown Prince. Luo Shixin, Qin Shubao, and Cheng Yaojin will also be appointed as Fourth Rank Guard Commanders among the Six Guards of the Eastern Palace. The remaining six generals will be appointed as Fourth Rank Deputy Guard Commanders."

Qin Wang Li Shimin was sitting in the hall. Hearing this, he frowned and stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I congratulate you, Father.

"Qin Shubao and the other nine generals are all Shandong heroes. They have fought against Wang Shichong in Luoyang for a long time. I think it would be better to transfer these nine generals to the Grand Secretariat of the Eastern Shaanxi Road..."

Pei Ji, the Minister of State Affairs and the Left Servant, who seemed to be dozing off, opened his eyes when he heard the sound.

(End of this chapter)