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

Chapter 284 Catching a turtle in a urn
"Ready your horse!"

Huang Ziying was not in the mood to eat barbecue anymore. Li Yi found a small path from somewhere and went around behind him. Lingshi City and Yindi Pass fell into Li Yi's hands. Together with Huoyi City in front of him, he was now surrounded in Queshu Valley.

Sabao Yurun was leading his men to bring out a freshly roasted lamb.
"General, the Hun Yang Mo Hu is ready. This dish is the most delicious."

He prepared this dish meticulously. He gutted the goose, removed the internal organs, and mixed the meat and glutinous rice with five spices. He then stuffed the goose into the gut of a cleaned sheep, sewed up the lamb's belly, and grilled it.

The fresh taste of mutton seeps into the goose, the goose has the taste of mutton and the goose has the taste of mutton, so it is named Hun Yang Mo Hu.

How could Huang Ziying still have the mood to eat this?
Hurrying outside,

"Where's the horse?"

Seeing that the horse had not been brought in yet, Huang Ziying cursed.

A groom came with a horse. Huang Ziying picked up the whip and whipped him. He whipped him more than ten times before letting him go. He then rode the horse and left the fort with his personal soldiers.

The horse servant was beaten all over and lowered his head, his eyes full of resentment.

Li Zhongwen and his men were also brought out of the hall by Huang Ziying's men.

Standing at the door, Li Zhongwen also saw Huang Ziying whipping the horse servant.

After Huang Ziying left Jiahu Fort, he immediately mobilized 3,000 cavalrymen and rushed to Yindi Pass, 30 miles to the north.

Yindi Pass is twenty miles southwest of Lingshi County. During the Sui Dynasty, a customs official was appointed to be in charge of the inspection and investigation of officials and civilians entering and leaving the pass. No matter whether they were officers, soldiers or civilians, they had to go through public inspection and pass.

If someone sneaks across the checkpoints without official documents, he will be sentenced to one year in prison. If he sneaks across the checkpoints without going through the checkpoints or the ferry, he will be sentenced to one and a half years in prison.

at this time,

The shady place is closed and the red flag is flying.

Li Yi stood on the Yindi Pass Castle and sighed.

This pass is so dangerous, no wonder some people say that Yindi Pass is as dangerous as Yanmen Pass.

From the north bank of the Fen River, the castle follows the terrain and goes up the slope, covering the entire hill.

"From a high vantage point, the view is broad. The front is protected by steep cliffs, the back is supported by steep mountains, the bottom is facing the Fen River for danger, and the bottom is built on a solid rock for foundation. This is truly a place where one man can hold the pass and ten thousand men cannot break through."

Set up a card here.
Don't try to sneak past the level unless you take a detour.

There is only a small path between the hundred-foot cliff and the rapid river.

This pass would be really difficult to attack if only one or two hundred people were guarding it.

Huang Ziying led thousands of troops from Jiexiu south to Queshu Valley.

When facing the Tang army's strongholds at Lingshi City, Lengquan Pass, and Yindi Pass, they could only bypass the passes instead of launching a head-on attack.

Huang Ziying’s mission was not to storm Lingshi County and the three passes of Yindi, Lengquan and Fenshui.

This also provided conditions for Li Yi's adventurous plan.

They walked along Hanhou Ridge, avoiding Queshu Valley and appeared in Lingshi City, then quickly traveled another twenty miles and arrived at Yindi Pass.

"The road is blocked!"

Li Yi looked at the road between the cliff outside the pass and the river, and directly ordered the road to be blocked. Previously, there was a high-walled town inside the pass with 300 soldiers.
However, faced with the sudden arrival of thousands of Huang Ziying's men, the town commander could only close the city and defend himself, not daring to provoke them at all, allowing them to pass through the pass in a swagger.

Now that Li Yi is here, of course the road has to be closed.

Block Huoyi and Lingshi at both ends, and seal off Yindi in the middle. Huang Ziying and his thousands of men will stay in Baili Queshu Valley and keep company with the sparrows.

The commander, Cao Yi, was a Sogdian. His family was a prominent family in Xihe Commandery during the Sui Dynasty. When the brothers Jiancheng and Shimin attacked Xihe, the city held out for only three days before surrendering. A number of powerful sons of Xihe nobles followed the army, and Cao Yi, along with them, entered Chang'an. He was then awarded a seventh-rank official position and returned to Hedong to assume the position of commander of Yindi Pass.

Cao Yi has been serving as the town commander here for more than a year and is quite familiar with the place.

"This place got its name from Xia Yu's flood control efforts. Legend has it that in ancient times, Jinyang was a lake that was prone to floods. Xia Yu led his ancestors to dig through mountains and rocks to divert the Fen River into the Yellow River. The place where the mountains were cut was called Lingshikou, also known as Xiamen.

The locals have a saying: "Open the Lingshikou and clear out the Jinyang Lake."

Yindi Pass, also known as Baichi Tower, is more than 40 meters high. Behind it is a village on the hill, which is Xia Village.

There are nine streets and alleys, and more than sixty households.

There was also a market here. Before the Han army marched south, it was bustling with activity every three, six, and nine days. Normally, there were many merchants passing through, so it was quite easy for the garrison troops to guard this place, and they could make a lot of money.

While guarding the pass, you can also cultivate some land.

Cao Yi has been feeling uneasy since he learned that Huang Ziying, who passed through Guanxia, lured an ambush in Queshu Valley in the south and wiped out all 9,000 men led by Li Zhongwen, the commander-in-chief of the army.

Although they only had 300 people and felt that they could not stop Huang Ziying's thousands of people, he failed to stop them at all. If the court investigated, they would not be able to bear it.

Facing the seventeen-year-old Deputy General Manager Li Yi, he was also very cooperative, hoping to atone for his sins.

Li Yi only brought 800 people with him at this time.

But after seeing the danger of the Yindi Pass Fortress, he became very confident.

Eleven hundred soldiers, together with the people of Xia Village, carried stones and built a city wall on the road below the pass, completely blocking the road. Although there was still a gate, it was not easy to pass through.

On one side is a hundred-foot cliff, on the other side is the Fen River rapids.
This is a salient area, surrounded by the Fen River on three sides, and there is no way to get around it.

The thing that Yindiguan lacks the most is stone. There are stonemasons in Xiacun, and even the soldiers in the town can cut stones. It only takes half a day.

More than a thousand people built a section of the wall on the south side.

"Make it higher and thicker,"

Cao Yi even suggested building four walls to enclose the road in front of Yindi Pass.

When Li Yi heard his idea, the first thing he thought of was a three-compartment septic tank. The four walls were built into three compartments, right?

"That's a good idea,"

There are four stone walls and four gates in a row. Each stone wall has a gate and a gate. Moreover, these four gates are not opened in a straight line, but have to be staggered. Even if the enemy breaks through one gate, they cannot immediately attack the second gate.

With more than a thousand people working, they are still very fast.

The main reason is that stones are easy to obtain. Large and small stones are built like building blocks. This thing is similar to building a fortress embankment, or even easier to build than a fortress embankment.

No adhesive was needed; under the guidance of the stonemasons, large and small stones were piled up, yet the wall remained very solid. The base was 20 feet wide and 40 feet high, and a one-meter-high parapet was built on the outer edge of the top, with pheasant dishes.

It's a bit rough due to the rush of work, but it's definitely strong enough.

Because there was not enough time to build the main door, they simply filled the remaining door opening with large stones to block it.

Anyway, Li Yi had no intention of getting past anyone.

As the sun sets,

The first wall was completed. Standing on the top of the twelve-meter-high and two-meter-wide stone wall, Li Yi immediately gained a bit of confidence.

"Build a wall every twenty steps, build four walls on top of it, and remember to stagger the doors."

There are four walls and four gates sixty steps below the Baichi Fort.

If this is completed, the road in front of Yindi Pass can be completely controlled.

It is no longer like before, when only soldiers were checking at the checkpoint.

Even if Huang Ziying is strong enough to break through one wall, there are still two walls, three walls, and four walls. If he rushes into the narrow city wall, he will be trapped in a jar.

Not only could the defenders on the four high walls shoot down at them,

There is also a hundred-foot fortress at Yindi Pass nearby, from which one can also shoot from a high vantage point.

One man can guard the gate, but ten thousand men cannot open it.

Although we were exhausted after moving stones for a whole day, everyone was still excited when they looked at the towering stone wall, and their sense of security increased greatly.

Fortunately, the road between the mountain and the river is very narrow, only about three or four meters wide, which greatly reduces the workload.

The bearded general Cao Yi looked at the towering stone wall and was even eager to see Huang Ziying's expression when he saw it.

"General Cao, the brothers have worked hard today. Please ask the villagers to buy some sheep and reward everyone."

There were 1,100 soldiers and more than 200 villagers. Li Yi directly ordered the purchase of 30 sheep. He paid for it. As the deputy commander-in-chief of the march, Li Yi brought with him a lot of military funds.

The villagers were very happy to get the cash and called Li Yi the king's teacher.

Slaughter the sheep, skin it, set up a pot and boil water,
The way to eat it is also very simple. Just stew it in a big pot and then cook corn rice.

When the mutton in the pot is stewed with fragrance,
Zhao Yongan returned with a cavalry unit.

"Sir, the enemy army is coming, about two thousand cavalrymen."

Li Yi's spirits lifted. "They came so quickly. They reacted quickly. But with only two thousand cavalrymen, they can only watch the wall and sigh in despair."

A group of soldiers were deployed to defend the walls and forts.

The others continued to rest and wait for dinner.

When the meat is tender and the rice is cooked,
The two thousand cavalry led by Huang Ziying also arrived.

After hearing this, Li Yi ordered the meal to be served.

"Eat first, then we'll talk."

The dusk is falling,

The Fen River flows with a roar,
"Eat, eat the meat and drink the soup quickly. Only when you are full will you have the energy to play with them."

Thirty sheep produced more than a thousand kilograms of meat. Basically, everyone could get a big bowl of mutton and a big bowl of mutton soup, accompanied by golden millet rice.
This dinner was so delicious.

Li Yi was exhausted these past few days. He rushed to Huoyi, crossed the mountains and ridges to pass Hanhouling, rushed to Lingshi City, and then rushed to Yindi Pass.
When they come, they move stones to build high walls.

If he didn't have a magical space that could replenish himself with milk powder, tea, dried meat, fried rice, etc. at any time, he would not have been able to hold on.

Hunger is the best food.

When I was extremely hungry, the mutton stewed in Fenhe River water was also so delicious. All kinds of mutton offal were cooked in one pot, and it still didn't taste fishy.

Li Yi finished his dinner happily.

The moon has already risen.

Li Yi picked his teeth with a toothpick while climbing up the newly built stone wall.

Not far ahead was a group of Han cavalry.

Filling the valley ahead,
The white flags fluttered,
Very imposing.

Li Yi was still picking his teeth; the mutton was still a little bit off.

opposite.

Huang Ziying was looking at Yindiguan from a distance of a hundred steps.
I was very depressed about the high wall that suddenly appeared.

How come a wall about four or five meters high suddenly appeared, completely blocking the only way between the cliff and the Fen River.

The wall is not very wide, only about four or five zhang wide, but four or five zhang high.

It was built at the foot of the Baichi Fort at Yindi Pass. The firing holes in the fort must have been filled with archers. There might even be crossbow carts and catapults deployed on the high cliff.

He looked back at the two thousand riders behind him.

I actually felt powerless towards this wall.

"This Li Yi," Huang Ziying gritted his teeth.

"Come here, go up and persuade them to surrender."

A captain rode up on horseback and came to the high wall, shouting to persuade Li Yi to surrender, but Li Yili was too lazy to pay attention to him.

High walls give people a great sense of security.

After a big meal, it is actually very good to take a walk on the high wall to help digest the food.

I just like watching Huang Ziying shouting in front of the gate, but feeling helpless.

(End of this chapter)