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

Chapter 287 Treason

Jiexiu was named after Jie Zitui, a famous minister of the State of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period, who died here.

Li Yi sent away Li Zhongwen's six generals, and also divided out 3,000 men and horses, 1,400 combat soldiers, including 1,000 infantry, 400 cavalry, 600 auxiliary soldiers, and 1,000 local militia.

He only had 5,500 combat soldiers, 5,500 auxiliary soldiers, and 2,000 garrison soldiers left.

Lingshi City,
Li Yi looked at Jiexiu on the map. The city was located at the southern end of the Jinzhong Basin, with Taiyue on the left, Luliang on the right, and Queshu Valley in the south. It was the throat of the road leading from Jinzhong to southern Shanxi, and was known as the thoroughfare between Shaanxi and Shanxi.

The Cold Food Festival came into being because of Jie Zitui, who cut off his own flesh to serve his king.

The city of Jiexiu was originally an earthen wall built during the Eastern Wei Dynasty, and was subsequently destroyed by wars many times.

Today's Jiexiu City is eight miles in circumference. The city is 35 feet high, 32 feet wide, the parapet is 5 feet high, and there are four city gates.

There is a gate tower on top of each of the four gates, and there are corner towers at each corner. The South Gate and the West Gate each have a barbican, and there are also gate towers on the barbican. There are more than 120 enemy towers on the entire city wall, and there are outer gates outside the east and north cities.

However, although this city is not small, it is built on the plain on the south bank of the Fen River.

Although he controlled the entrance to Queshu Valley, he himself had no strategic location to defend as he was located in the south of the basin plain.

"Wuyi, do you think Li Zhongwen and his men will have a smooth journey north this time?" Longxi King Li Boyi leaned over to the map.

Bohai King Li Fengci mocked: "I thought Li Zhongwen was at least one of the Eight Pillars of the State, but who would have thought he was just a chicken. Nine thousand men were annihilated by five thousand men. I dare not believe it if I tell anyone. For such a man, Wuyi gave him three thousand men. This is another one that will never come back.

If he is captured by the Han army again, he may not be spared."

Cui Dunli spoke up for Li Yi. "Li Zhongwen is still the commander-in-chief of the army. Before the court dismisses him, he still has the final say here. County Lord Li is only the deputy commander-in-chief after all. How can we refuse him when he repeatedly asks?"

"But if we sit back and do nothing while the enemy is besieging Jiexiu, we will be held accountable. Now that Li Zongguan and his men are leading 3,000 men north, we and the county magistrate will remain to defend the two cities and two passes. Jiexiu will have nothing to do with us."

Li Daozong also nodded. "With the addition of 3,000 reinforcements, the defense of Jiexiu City should be no problem. After all, Taiyuan is still there, and the enemy's main force is still in the north."

The war seemed to have suddenly been paused.

After the Dragon Boat Festival,

The two sides fell into a dull stalemate.

Song Jingang, the King of Song under Emperor Wuzhou of the Han Dynasty, led the Han-Tu coalition forces to besiege Taiyuan, and the general Xun Xiang led his troops to besiege Jiexiu, while the vanguard Huang Ziying was surrounded by Li Yi in Jiahu Fort in Queshu Valley.

Li Zhongwen's 3,000 troops marched north but failed to enter Jiexiu.

They encountered an ambush from Xun Xiang's army in the south of Jiexiu. Li Zhongwen, who had suffered a loss before, was indeed much more cautious this time. Although the enemy once again challenged him with light troops, he did not fall for it. He advanced steadily, but his troops were too few and he was unable to break through the enemy's encirclement and enter Jiexiu.

They had no choice but to retreat and enter Zhangbi Fort, 20 miles south of Jiexiu.

Zhangbi Fort is not big, but it is built against the mountain and surrounded by ditches on three sides, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is said that this fort was first built during the Five Barbarians Invasion period in the late Jin Dynasty. In order to resist the war, the powerful built a fort. In the years that followed, the fort was continuously expanded.

So now it has become a fortress with great defense, with a circumference of more than 1,000 meters, covering an area of 200 acres, and constructed with three strict defense lines.

The first thing to be attacked is the outer city wall of the castle, followed by the intricate alley gates and courtyard gates inside the castle, which form a solid barrier.

The most ingenious thing is that the fortress has underground tunnels that are ten thousand meters long, forming an intricate underground network. The tunnels are even dug into a three-layer three-dimensional structure, which can be used for both passage and hiding soldiers and storing food.

This fortress, which has experienced countless wars, is located in the mountains south of Jiexiu. The two towering mountains, Luliang and Taiyue, are tightly connected with each other with open arms. Zhangbi Fort is located at the junction of the plain and the mountains.
The Fen River winds its way southwards, forming a narrow passage between Jiexiu City and Queshu Valley.

Li Zhongwen's choice to station troops here was a wise one.

It is not far from Jiexiu, only about 20 miles away, which can contain the enemy troops attacking the city and support the Jiexiu defenders. Secondly, he controls the entrance to Queshu Valley. Even if Liu Wuzhou's Han army takes Jiexiu City, they cannot easily move south without removing this nail.

Their food supply could be threatened at any time.

Threatening the food and supplies was an important function of these fortresses. Huang Ziying had previously bypassed Lingshi all the way to the vicinity of Huoyi, but now he was trapped and died in Queshu Valley.

It can be said that his bold advance into enemy territory not only enabled him to annihilate Li Zhongwen's nine thousand men, but also put himself in a deadly situation.

This is the danger that can easily arise when daring to cross the city, especially when he goes to a place like Queshu Valley.

Time passes day by day.

Li Yi was stationed in Lingshi County, strengthening the defense and training the troops. He even led his troops to start farming.

The battlefields everywhere are in a stalemate, waiting for new forces to join in to break this fragile balance.

Li Yi was also waiting for reinforcements from Chang'an.

The news could reach Chang'an in a few days if the express horse from Lingshi was sent.
But Li Yi never received any news about reinforcements from the court, but instead received some useless reports.

For example, Liang Shidu attacked Lingzhou, but was repelled by Yang Ze, the chief officer of Lingzhou.

In addition, Zheng Qianfu, the governor of Beihai County in the Sui Dynasty, and Fang Huizheng, the magistrate of Wendeng County, surrendered their territories to the Tang Dynasty. Along with them, Prince Bu of Qi County also surrendered to the Tang Dynasty.

In the Battle of Liaocheng at the beginning of the year, this guy first accepted Yu Wenhuaji's offer of amnesty, ran to the king to help fight, and fought against Li Shentong. Later, when he saw Dou Jiande's army heading south, he decisively opened the city gate and sold out Yu Wenhuaji.

Dou Jiande was quite kind to these Shandong bandit leaders, granting them titles such as general manager, county lord, governor, and county lord. However, for some reason, only a few months later, these guys surrendered to the Tang Dynasty with their territories and troops.

Zheng Shanguo, the Minister of Civil Affairs of Yuwen Huaji, was captured in the battle of Liaocheng and originally submitted to Dou Jiande. However, for some reason, Dou Jiande trusted Pei Shiju and others very much, but did not respect Zheng Shanguo. Zheng Shanguo was so angry that he wanted to commit suicide. After being stopped, he simply fled to Li Shentong, who sent him to Chang'an. Li Yuan was very kind to this Zheng family of Xingyang.

He was appointed as the acting secretary of the Imperial Household and also the prince's left minister.

The wife of Crown Prince Jiancheng was the daughter of Zheng from Xingyang, so it was just right for him to assist the Crown Prince.

There was another piece of news that the five states in Huainan all surrendered. These five states were the local powerful people in Huainan. They raised an army and defeated Zhu Can. Zhu Can had no other choice but to surrender to Li Xiaogong, and Li Yuan also named him King of Chu.

Li Yuan sent the Grand Chamberlain Duan Que to Huainan to comfort Zhu Can. It turned out that Duan Que loved wine. After drinking some wine with Zhu Can, he forgot who he was and where he was. He asked Zhu Can in public what it felt like.
Zhu Can was a real troublemaker, but Duan Que still dared to scold Zhu Can. As a result, Zhu Can killed him and dozens of his entourage, and then massacred the people of Jutan City. Duan Que then went to Wang Shichong for help.

Wang Shichong did not care about his fickleness and appointed him as General Longxiang.

It's all some messed up news.

The world is indeed in chaos.

He really wanted to know how the imperial court dealt with the current situation in Hedong.

In fact,
When the news of Hedong's defeat reached Chang'an, the court was in an uproar, but no conclusion was reached.

Chang'an,

Once again, the Golden Palace held a meeting.

Minister of Civil Affairs Liu Wenjing was very aggressive and took advantage of Li Zhongwen's defeat to attack Pei Ji again. Liu Wenjing listed several major crimes of Pei Ji.

First, the generals of Bingzhou kept saying that Liu Wuzhou and the Turks were going to invade in large numbers. The King of Qin, him, and Li Yi also repeatedly reminded the court.
But Pei Ji always said that they were exaggerating.

It was Pei Ji's attitude that caused the situation to get out of control step by step.

When the Turks invaded and broke through Yuci and besieged Pingyao during the reign of Emperor Wu of Zhou, Pei Ji recommended Li Zhongwen to lead the army and opposed the King of Qin taking command. Now Li Zhongwen underestimated the enemy and the entire army of 9,000 soldiers was annihilated in Queshu Valley.

Pingyao was also lost, and Jiexiu was also under siege.

If Li Yi had not led the rear army to Huoyi in time and found Han Houdao to rush to Lingshi City, the situation would have been even worse.

It was because Li Yi blocked Huang Ziying's thousands of elite troops in Queshu Valley that Xun Xiang was unable to capture Jiexiu City.

Liu Wenjing bluntly stated that Pei Ji should resign and proposed that the court should immediately dismiss Li Zhongwen and the other six generals and have the King of Qin lead the troops north to attack Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang.

Liu Wenjing also volunteered to go to the Turks as an envoy to Choro Khan to persuade the Turks to make peace with the Tang Dynasty.

The emperor frowned, leaned on the table, and remained silent.

Pei Ji was unwilling to be outdone and asked to personally lead his troops north to clean up the mess.

Liu Wenjing ridiculed Pei Ji for his ignorance of military affairs, saying he was playing with the Tang Dynasty. The emperor was annoyed by the tirade, so Liu Wenjing strongly recommended that the Prince of Qin lead the expedition and dismiss Pei Ji from his position as prime minister. Pei Ji volunteered to lead the expedition himself, stating that although Li Zhongwen had been defeated, it would not affect the overall situation.

"That's all for today. I'm tired."

Li Yuan stood up, flicked his sleeves and left.

The ministers withdrew.

When Liu Wenjing returned home in the evening, his brother Liu Wenqi came to see his elder brother with two pots of good wine.

"When the King of Qin leads the army to war, big brother, you must find a position for me then." Liu Wenqi said with a smile.

Liu Wenjing asked the cook to prepare some delicious dishes, and the two brothers drank and chatted together.

"That old slave Pei Ji has been trying to stop the King of Qin from taking command. He hasn't even taken a piss to reflect on his own behavior. He thinks he knows how to fight, but he wants to lead the Northern Expedition. Isn't he treating military and national affairs like a joke?"

After a few glasses of wine,
Liu Wenjing was a little drunk and cursed even more fiercely.

Liu Wenjing and Pei Ji, the former Jinyang Palace Supervisor and the latter Jinyang County Magistrate, were both Li Yuan's right-hand men. When Li Mi joined Yang Xuangan in the rebellion, Liu Wenjing, as Li Mi's brother-in-law, was implicated and imprisoned. It was Li Yuan's strong defense that restored Liu Wenjing to his post.

Therefore, Liu Wenjing was very grateful to Li Yuan and completely became Li Yuan's man.

He gave advice to Li Yuan and even went to the Turks in person to bring in reinforcements, assisting Li Yuan in founding the Tang Dynasty. He and Pei Ji were both appointed as prime ministers, but later the emperor trusted Pei Ji more and more, and took advantage of the defeat at Qianshuiyuan to dismiss him from his position, and he has never been reinstated until now.

Liu Wenjing knew that it was Pei Ji who had been speaking ill of him to the emperor, which prevented him from becoming prime minister again, and he was always dissatisfied.

I drank a few more cups.
Liu Wenjing drew his sword and chopped at the pillar, "I'm going to kill that dog slave Pei Ji sooner or later!"

The brothers' movement alarmed Tao Niang, one of Liu Wenjing's concubines. Tao Niang had lost Liu Wenjing's favor due to a mistake she made.

She secretly eavesdropped on the conversation between the two brothers and was surprised to hear those words about killing Pei Ji.

The next day, when Liu Wenjing woke up, he had forgotten all the drunken words he had said the day before. He even saw the knife marks on the pillar and was very surprised. He joked to his son that the house was haunted.

Liu Taoniang's brother was doing some chores at Liu Wenjing's house. When he came to see his sister, he smiled and told her about the rumor that the house was haunted.

"It's not a ghost. It's just that Alang got drunk last night and drew his sword and chopped Zhuzi, thinking he was You Pushe Pei Ji." Liu Taoniang whispered to her brother what she had overheard last night.

After hearing this, Liu Taoniang's brother was very surprised.

In the afternoon, Liu Xian had just left the Liu Mansion and was about to go to the West Market to do some shopping when he was surrounded by several people and dragged into an alley.

"Liu Dalang, do you want to default on the money you owe us?"

Several strong men with tattoos on their arms clenched their fists and looked ferocious.

"No one has ever dared to evade our Yongsheng Casino's money. Do you really think you can escape by hiding in the Duke of Lu's mansion?"

"Don't waste time talking to him. Just chop off one of his palms as interest, and then give him ten days. If he still can't pay it back, chop off the other palm as well." A middle-aged man said viciously.

"No, good men,"

"Then you should pay back the principal and interest now, and I will also give face to the Duke of Lu's Mansion."

Liu Xian had no money to pay back. He had been unlucky recently and lost a lot of money in the gambling house. He then borrowed high-interest loans from them to make up for the losses, but ended up getting deeper and deeper into trouble.

"No money? Humph, hold him down."

"Give me one day and I will pay you back double." Liu Xian shouted.

"One day, double it? That's not a small amount of money. Including principal and interest, it's over a hundred strings of cash. And you're still doubling it?"

"Really? I'll get a large sum of money soon. Believe me, I really will. By this time tomorrow, I'll still be here. If you don't get the money, you can take off my head and use it as a chamber pot!"

"Okay, I'll trust you again." The middle-aged man snorted coldly.

Liu Xian heaved a sigh of relief, and just as he was about to leave,

The middle-aged man suddenly drew his sword.

The sword flashed,
Liu Xian's left little finger was cut off.

"This is a warning to you. If you don't come by this time tomorrow, I will chop off your head and sell your wife to Beiqu, Pingkangfang."

Liu Xian endured the severe pain and repeatedly assured several people.

Several people left,

Liu Xian looked at the little finger on the ground and knew that he was at his wit's end.

Pick up your little finger,

Liu Xian gritted his teeth and stomped his feet, then headed straight for the residence of the Right Prime Minister, Duke Wei.

Duke of Wei's Mansion,

After hearing the housekeeper's report, Pei Ji frowned and thought for a while.

"What does he want?"

"He wants three hundred strings of cash."

"Three hundred strings of cash, huh? Take him to the Dali Temple and report him. Tell him that if the court's investigation proves it's true, he'll be rewarded far more than three hundred strings of cash."

Liu Xian, who was missing a finger, was taken to a carriage by Pei Ji's housekeeper and sent directly to the Dali Temple in the imperial city.

After receiving Liu Xian’s report, the Dali Temple was also shocked. They did not dare to be careless and reported it quickly.

quickly,

On the emperor's desk, there was a memorial in which the brother of Liu Wenjing's concubine accused him of intending to rebel.

After Li Yuan read it, he summoned Qian Jiulong.

"You must arrest Liu Wenjing and put him in jail immediately,"

Afterwards, the emperor issued another decree, ordering the Right Prime Minister Pei Ji and the Internal Secretary Xiao Yu to go for interrogation.

Liu Wenjing was taken away from the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the Shangshu Province.

He was brought to the sect for introspection, and was interrogated personally by Xiao Yu and Pei Ji.

Liu Wenjing faced Pei Ji's questioning and said frankly: "When the Taiyuan uprising began, I was a Sima, and my status was equal to that of the Chief Secretary Pei Ji. Now Pei Ji is the Minister of State, and my official title and rewards are far inferior to his. I have been fighting in many battles, and my family has no one to protect me. I am indeed dissatisfied.
Last night, after drinking, I said a few drunken words, but I have absolutely no intention of rebellion."

Xiao and Pei met the emperor. Xiao Yu believed that Liu Wenjing had just spoken out of turn after drinking and was not plotting a rebellion.

But Pei Ji said, "Liu Wenjing's talent and strategy are indeed superior to others, but he is inherently suspicious and treacherous, and his ugly words and strange deeds have already been revealed. The world is still unstable, there are powerful enemies outside, and he has always been familiar with the Turks. If Liu Wenjing is pardoned, it will cause future troubles."

Li Yuan frowned when he heard Pei Ji's words about Liu Wenjing's familiarity with the Turks. He wasn't worried about Liu Wenjing colluding with the Turks; he remembered that Liu Wenjing had always had a good relationship with Erlang and was his confidant. Now that the Turks were joining Liu Wuzhou in invading, if Erlang had any secret connections with the Turks, that would be a real problem.

Moreover, Liu Wenjing had indeed repeatedly displeased Li Yuan over the past year since he was dismissed from his position. Now, if such a person were to call for Pei Ji's death, wouldn't that mean he wasn't dissatisfied with the emperor? Liu Wenjing was a capable man, and the resentment he harbored was as unsettling as the gaze of a poisonous snake.

"Liu Wenjing Liu Wenqi was plotting rebellion, imprisoned, executed in the autumn, and his property confiscated!"

Xiao Yu even pleaded for Liu Wenjing, but the emperor waved his hand impatiently, "You don't need to say anything more, go."

Li Yuan did not mention at all that he had specially granted Liu Wenjing an iron certificate of immunity from death, which could save him from two deaths.

(End of this chapter)