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

Chapter 37: The Crown Prince is Granted the Official Calligraphy
Northwest of Chang'an,

Jingzhou.

Emperor Xue Ju of the Qin Empire led the elite troops of Longyou southward, invading Jingzhou. The main force was stationed at Zhecheng in Anding County, while the vanguard advanced towards Gaocheng. Meanwhile, light cavalry on the left and right wings raided Fufeng and Beidi counties.

Guanzhong was shaken and Chang'an was uneasy.

The people were in turmoil, long queues formed in grain stores in the east and west markets, and grain prices soared. The court ordered the opening of the Changping granary to release grain to suppress grain prices.

At this time, the Western Expedition Marshal, Prince of Qin Li Shimin, also quickly rushed to Changwu City on the border of Binjing.

The military flags are fluttering,

Changwu City was built during the Kaihuang period of the Sui Dynasty as a frontier fortress. To its west is Qianshuiyuan. Qin Dynasty general Meng Tian and Prince Fusu built a city on Qianshuiyuan, which was Gaocheng City.

After Li Shimin arrived in Changwu, he inspected the city defense despite being exhausted.

"The circumference of Changwu City is five li. The base of the city wall is three zhang wide, the top is seven feet wide, and the height is three zhang. It is built with rammed earth. There is one gate each in the east, west, and north, and two gates in the south.

The moat is five zhang deep and three zhang wide."

Li Shimin climbed up the city gate tower. Changwu City stood majestically at the top of the plateau, facing the Jing River and overlooking the passage. It was the northern gateway of Chang'an.

"How many troops have been assembled?"

The Tang Dynasty claimed that it was King Qin Li Shimin who led an army of 100,000 to fight against Xue Ju, but in fact Li Shimin did not have so many soldiers.

Xue Ju came with all his might this time. Not only did he send his main force into Jingzhou, but he also divided his troops into two wings, and used light cavalry to attack Fufeng and Beidi counties. The Tang Dynasty had to send troops to intercept them, while also having to face forces such as Liu Wuzhou in Hedong, Wang Shichong in Luoyang, and Zhu Can in Shannan.

Even the Jihu tribe in the north of Beijing, although they were severely defeated and repelled when they invaded at the beginning of the year, still had to be on guard.

"We have gathered 40,000 troops in Jingzhou and Binzhou," replied the marching Sima Yin Kaishan.

"Not enough," Li Shimin shook his head. "Xue Ju is coming with great force and a sharp advance. Most of his men are elite cavalrymen from Longyou. Our 40,000 men are not enough."

He pointed at Changwu City and said, "There is a vast plain in the southeast and a large valley in the northwest. The city is built of earth and cannot be solid. We must dig deep trenches and raise high walls to strengthen the city defenses, build additional city walls, deepen the moat, and add more corner towers.

Forts and beacon towers should also be added in the surrounding areas.

We must increase the number of bunkers, both open and hidden, and set up picket fences throughout the moat for strict defense."

"Also, have the civilians speed up the transportation of food, fodder, and arrows into the city for storage."

Yin Kaishan frowned, "Xue Ju is only a captain of the Sui Dynasty. There's no need to be so afraid of him. If he dares to penetrate the heartland, we can destroy him in one battle."

"Don't underestimate the enemy."

Although Li Shimin was young, he did not underestimate the enemy. He knew clearly that most of Xue Ju's army were from the Longyou Army of the Sui Dynasty, which had a large number of cavalry and was very powerful.

But he now has only 40,000 men, and is particularly short of cavalry.

If the battle were fought on an open plain like Qianshuiyuan, Li Shimin did not think he would have much chance of winning, not to mention that Xue Ju's troops were three times his own.

Yin Kaishan was born into the Yin family of Chenjun. He was the son of Yin Sengshou, the secretary of the Sui Dynasty. During the Sui Dynasty, Yin Kaishan served as the mayor of Taigu County and had outstanding political achievements. After the Taiyuan uprising, he was recruited as a general's assistant to Li Yuan, and later transferred to Li Shimin's Marshal's Office as a chief secretary. After the capture of Chang'an, he was granted the title of Duke of Chenjun and promoted to an assistant to the Prime Minister's Office.

Yin Kaishan, now the Minister of Personnel, was a close confidant of Li Shimin, a man who consulted on his plans and strategies and was often relied upon. However, Yin's weakness was that he was a civil servant and had served two terms as a county magistrate during the Sui Dynasty. Although he followed Li Shimin in the Taiyuan uprising, he pacified Xihe, advanced westward to capture Fufeng, crossed the Wei River to the south, defeated Wei Wensheng, and entered Chang'an.

Yin Kaishan was a good advisor, and he had even been very effective in assisting Li Shimin in pacifying refugees. However, this could not cover up his weakness of not being good at military affairs.

Li Shimin was in command of the army, and the chief secretaries appointed to him by Li Yuan were Prime Minister Liu Wenjing and Sima Yin Kaishan.

But now Liu Wenjing is not on the front line.

Li Shimin's great-uncle, the Secretary of the Interior Dou Wei, had just passed away, so Li Yuan urgently recalled the Minister of State Liu Wenjing back to Chang'an, which meant that Li Shimin now lost an important assistant.

Facing the fierce attack of Xue Ju and his son,
Li Shimin, who had defeated Xue Rengao once last year, did not underestimate the enemy. Xue Ju and his son Xue Rengao were famous for their bravery, and the Qin army they commanded was actually the Longyou Right Army of the Sui Dynasty.

That was the Longyou Right Army that had destroyed Tuyuhun and captured Yiwulu, and had terrorized the Western Regions. It was powerful in both men and horses, so they had to be cautious.

Behind Changwu is Chang'an, the vast and flat Guanzhong Plain, which is only more than 300 miles away from Chang'an.

There is no room for error here.
After arriving at the front line, the first decision Li Shimin made was to reinforce Changwu City with all his strength and increase the storage of grain there.

In addition, Jingzhou City and Gaocheng City must not be lost.

If Gaoqiong City is lost, Changwu can still survive.

"Immediately send troops to reinforce Jingzhou and Gaocheng City." Li Shimin gave the order after a moment's pause. "Where is the Prince of Changping?"

Prince Changping and Li Shuliang, the Minister of Justice, stepped forward, wearing silver armor.

This is Li Shimin's uncle, grandson of Li Hu, the eldest son of Li Yi, the Prince of Xun, and a close member of the imperial clan. Li Yi is Li Yuan's sixth uncle, who has passed away. He has six sons, with Uncle Zhong, Uncle Ji and De being the youngest. Li Shuliang is the third oldest in the family. When Li Yuan recently appointed the crown prince and enfeoffed Shimin and Yuanji as the Prince of Qin and the Prince of Qi, he also appointed nine princes from the imperial clan.
Among them were the brothers Li Shuliang, King of Changping, and Li Deliang, King of Xinxing.

As a descendant of a famous family in Guanlong, Li Shuliang was also good at riding and shooting and understood military tactics. He also made many military achievements during the founding of the Li Tang Dynasty.

Although he is not a general, he is still a family member after all.

"Please ask the Prince of Changping to lead his troops to Jingzhou immediately to garrison it."

"General Liu Gan,"

"The end will be here."

"I appoint you as the commander of Jingzhou, to assist the Prince of Changping in defending Jingzhou."

"You have only one mission: defend Jingzhou. As long as the city is safe and sound, the people will be there."

Li Shimin divided 8,000 soldiers into two groups and asked only one of them to defend the city.

Liu Gan was a fierce general, a Xiongnu, grandson of Liu Feng, King of Gaochang in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and a commander of the imperial guards during the Sui Dynasty. He was chosen to assist Li Shuliang because of his experience in commanding troops.

With Li Shuliang as a prince of the royal family, and a powerful general to assist him, it should be enough to just defend Jingzhou City.

After all, Li Shimin was personally stationed in Changwu, so it wasn't that far away. "Your Highness, I am willing to go to Gaocheng Town to defend it," Yin Kaishan volunteered.

But Li Shimin did not agree. Although Yin Kaishan was the military commander, commanding troops was not his forte. He looked to the eight general managers, Liu Hongji, Li Anyuan, Murong Luohou, Liu Shirang, Qiu Xinggong, etc.

"Liu Shirang, the commander-in-chief of the Anding Road Army,"

"The end will be here."

"I order you to lead 5,000 men from this division to garrison Gaocheng City, with General Liu Bao as your deputy commander."

Liu Shirang and Liu Bao were brothers. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, they also raised an army in Fufeng County. Later, after they surrendered to Li Yuan, they took the initiative to volunteer to pacify the remaining forces of Tang Bi. The 5,000 people under their command were basically their own troops.

Li Shuliang and Liu Gan led 8,000 men to garrison Jingzhou, the brothers Liu Shirang and Liu Bao led 5,000 men to garrison Gaocheng City, and Li Shimin himself led Qiu Xinggong, Murong Luohou and others to garrison Changwu.

Forty thousand men held their ground in Jing and Bin, defending the passage to the Guanzhong Plain.

Li Shimin only asked for one thing: deep trenches and high fortifications, defending the city and not going out, wasting time.

The Longyou Right Army, which came from afar, was exhausted and ran out of food, and their fighting spirit was completely destroyed.

"Anyone who dares to fight without permission will be killed."

The military meeting ended.

Li Shimin was still standing on the top of Changwu City. The armored commander of the Qin Palace, the attendant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Marquis of Wenjiang, and the pillar of the country Zhang Ananda came forward. The eunuch with no beard took out a thermos cup from his backpack.

"Your Highness rushed all the way and was busy with military affairs as soon as he arrived in Changwu. He didn't even have time to eat. Please have some meat porridge quickly."

Li Shimin took it, opened the cup, and a meaty aroma filled his face.

“It smells so good,”

Zhang Ananda poured the stewed meat porridge into the cup lid for Li Shimin and unfolded the folding stainless steel spoon. Li Shimin took it and drank the meat porridge while standing on the top of the city wall.

"Well, after two hours of running, the meat porridge was finally cooked to perfection. It's soft and tender, but also very fresh. This stewing cup that Ruhui gave me is really good."

Li Shimin was young, but he often led troops outside, and he was hungry or full, so his stomach was very bad. Now with this cup, he can drink hot and soft meat porridge anytime and anywhere, which is really great.

He once had the experience of chasing the enemy for several days and nights without taking off his armor, and won many glorious victories, but his stomach was also damaged.

After eating the hot and soft meat porridge, my stomach immediately felt warm and comfortable.

Li Shimin could not help but admire the man who could make this cup even more. He had previously looked for excellent craftsmen in Chang'an to imitate this cup, but none of them could achieve such a stewing effect, which was disappointing. This also made him admire Li Yi's master, Li Laodao, even more.

It is so amazing that such a magical stainless steel can be made from the iron that fell from outer space.

It's a pity that this great Taoist priest died in a kiln collapse after a rainstorm.
And there was Li Yi, his lean body was really nice, although it was obvious that he was still a little lacking in quality, but he was already very good. It was a pity that he did not accept my recruitment and was unwilling to join the Qin Wang's court. Perhaps it was because the position of Shulingshi was too low, but given his background, it was impossible to directly recruit him as an official. He was not from a famous family, and he was so young and had no reputation.

While eating the meat porridge, my thoughts couldn't help but wander.

He thought again of the pills that the young man gave him before he left that day. He had a doctor with him, but Li Yi was a really good young man.

After this battle,
I can go to Yusu Township and talk to him again. If he really has the talent, it is not impossible to recommend him to the Qin Palace as a ninth-rank official to participate in military affairs.

Changan.

In Wannian County Yamen,
Sun Fujia, the legal officer, was writing furiously at his desk, submitting a letter of advice to the emperor.
He proposed three strategies:
If an emperor has loyal ministers, even if he is unjust, he will not lose the world. The fundamental reason for the fall of the Sui Dynasty was that it ignored its mistakes. I advise Your Majesty to be open-minded and accept advice, open up to the truth, select virtuous people, and work hard to govern the country.

Secondly, all kinds of entertainment are not good music. The Emperor of Sui Dynasty was greedy for comfort and pleasure. The rampant corruption in the officialdom was a sign of the dynasty's demise. The emperor was advised not to indulge in sensual pleasures and to correct the social atmosphere.

Third, people may be similar in nature but different in habits. Another reason for the fall of the Sui Dynasty was that the people around the emperor caused chaos in the country. Therefore, the emperor had to carefully select the people around the crown prince and the kings to prevent them from causing trouble for the country.

The last of the three pieces of advice specifically quoted Li Yi's Three Character Classic. At the end of the letter of advice, he also reported to the emperor the special deeds of Li Yi, a village chief who had returned to secular life from a Taoist priest. He said that Li Yi helped the villagers, built a primary school, and even wrote the Three Character Classic. At the end of the letter of advice, he also attached the twelve large characters of the Three Character Classic in thin-muscle script that he had asked for from Li Yi that day.

This memorial contains tens of thousands of words.

The document was presented to Emperor Li Yuan in the Taiji Palace. After reading it, Li Yuan was delighted. "This Sun Fujia is indeed a Jinshi (Jinshi) who started out as a minor official. He has a very clear understanding of the reasons for the fall of the Sui Dynasty. I must make use of such a person."

Pei Jian, you will draft an edict for me now, promoting Sun Fujia, the Wannian Law Officer, to the rank of Fifth-Rank Censor of the Imperial Censorate, awarding him 300 bolts of silk, and circulating Sun Fujia's memorial to all officials in the capital."

After saying this, Li Yuan looked at the twelve lines of Li Yi's Slender Gold Three-Character Classic presented with the memorial.
"This calligraphy is indeed good, with iron-like strokes and silver-like hooks, full of pride. The person who can write such calligraphy and compose such a Three Character Classic is actually a young man of only sixteen years old, and a Taoist priest who has just returned to secular life," Li Yuan stroked his beard and sighed.

Pei Ji sat beside the emperor.
This Duke of Wei, who was the Shangshu You Pushe and the Minister of State Affairs, was deeply favored by the emperor and was granted a thousand hectares of land, a fief of 300 households, a mansion in Chang'an, and 40,000 pieces of fabric.

The emperor even only called him Pei Jian, never calling him by his name, and often pulled him to sit on the imperial bed with him. No one in the court, whether civil or military, could do this.

"This boy is indeed quite remarkable. It would be a pity for him to be a village chief in the countryside. I suggest that Your Majesty grant him the title of Crown Prince Official in the Eastern Palace's Finance Bureau."

Pei Ji had already seen from the emperor's expression and tone that the emperor appreciated the young Taoist priest, so he proposed to grant him an official position.

The Crown Prince's Secretary was only of the ninth rank, and his only job was to proofread and publish the books in the Eastern Palace.

This unremarkable and leisurely position was usually given to the children of noble families as a stepping stone to make a fortune. However, for that country boy, it was a great reward.

Being promoted directly to an official and even entering the Prince's Eastern Palace should have been a great honor for Li Yi, who was only sixteen years old. This could be considered a leap from a carp to a dragon.

If that kid is sensible and grateful, I can consider cultivating him in the future.

"Well, the title of Crown Prince Zhengzi is quite suitable. Let him teach Chengzong the Three Character Classic in two years."

Crown Prince Li Jiancheng is 29 years old this year, but he got married two years later than his younger brother Li Shimin. He married a woman from the Five Surnames family who was ten years younger than him, Zheng Guanyin from the Zheng family in Xingyang. This year, Li Chengzong, Jiancheng's eldest son and Li Yuan's eldest grandson, was born.

"Give me twenty pieces of silk and one palace maid."

In Li Yuan's Yiting Palace, many palace maids were family members of criminal officials who were forced to work in the palace due to their property being confiscated. There were so many of them that the cost of their food and clothing was extremely high. Li Yuan now began to reward some of the palace maids to his own imperial guards, or to officials from the royal family and nobles. He even pardoned the crimes of some families of criminal officials from the previous dynasty and released them back to their relatives in order to win over those famous nobles.

There were tens of thousands of palace maids in the Taiji Palace, and Li Yuan inherited them from the previous dynasty. Many of them were old. Releasing some of the palace maids, allowing those without families to marry into the imperial guards, or giving them as rewards to ministers, and allowing those with families to return home, was considered a benevolent policy.

"Pei Jian, let's go boating in the North Sea, play the pipa and drink wine together." Li Yuan took his old friend and went out for fun.

(End of this chapter)