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

Chapter 90: Death in Jingzhou
Jingzhou,

Anding County of the Sui Dynasty,
Luo Dafu tightened the straw rope around his waist to make the hunger less intense, but acid still rose in his stomach.

"Brother," Luo Dagui came over from a distance, his clothes ragged. It was already autumn, but he was still wearing thin summer clothes. "It's noon, time for dinner."

Dafu glanced at his brother, then sat against the wall and said weakly, "Bullshit! Where's the food? We've been out of food for a long time."

"Maybe we can get some porridge if we go over there. We just sit here and get nothing." Dagui said.

"Save some energy," Dafu said weakly, his heart already despairing. They were conscripted by Wannian County on the first day of May to serve as soldiers and transport food and grass to Jingzhou.
Then the war broke out, and May turned into August in the blink of an eye.

"Ninety-one days,"

This Anding City is like a huge prison, trapping them here.

Last time, Prince of Changping Li Shuliang and General of the Cavalry Liu Gan led thousands of reinforcements and brought a batch of food and grass to reinforce. We thought the war should be over soon, but who knew that they would be defeated at Qianshuiyuan. If it were not for the subsequent victory at Changwu, Jingzhou would definitely have been broken.

"Brother, when do you think the reinforcements from Chang'an City will arrive?"

Dafu doesn't know,
I was hoping that reinforcements would arrive, and I was only holding on with this hope.

"They should be here soon. Didn't they say Xue Ju was dead?"

"Then why haven't you come for so long?"

The two brothers leaned against the wall.

"I don't know what's going on at home. I've been away for three months and haven't heard a word from them."

"Don't worry, I have my elder brother and sister-in-law to take care of me at home, and I also have my third sister. We can make some money from the tofu business, even if it's hard work. At least we can make some tofu dregs to eat. In two months, the rice along the He River will be ripe, and the wheat on the Shenhe Plateau will be harvested.
After the autumn harvest, this winter should be easier to get through."

"Brother, I think the tofu dregs and wild vegetables that my mother cooked are too mushy. It would be best if we put shepherd's purse in it, and add some pig fat to make it more fragrant."

"Sanniang's tofu stewed with pickles, plus some loaches caught from the canal, is delicious."

The two brothers talked back and forth, and then fell silent.

Suddenly, Luo Sanlang Luo Dagui started crying, "Brother, we may never be able to go back. We will never be able to eat shepherd's purse and tofu dregs porridge or stewed loach with tofu and pickles again. Brother, I want to go home."

······
Liu Gan, the commander of Jingzhou and general of the cavalry, went straight to the general's office with great concern.
The original Anding County Prefectural Governor's Mansion was later changed to the Governor's Mansion, and is now the General Manager's Mansion of Changping King Li Shuliang.

It's nearly noon.

A group of guards from the General's Office guarded the entire office tightly.

Liu Gan went all the way to the backyard of the General Manager's Mansion.
Prince Changping Li Shuliang was drinking. When he saw him coming, he waved and asked him to come over and drink with him.

Liu Gan looked at his cousin, the emperor, who was still drinking at this time.

Li Shuliang was a little fat. He picked up the wine jug and poured a glass for Liu Gan.

Liu Gan sat down and looked at the food and wine in front of him: cold-cooked lamb, water-refined calf, stewed lamb tail, Gulouzi, and crystal cake. Even in Chang'an City, these were only enjoyed by the princes and nobles.
Now that Jingzhou is out of food, Prince Changping is still so extravagant.

Li Shuliang said with a smile, "General's grandfather was also the King of Gaochang. You'll have to make do with these. Although I brought a cook from Chang'an, the siege has lasted so long that even a skilled cook cannot cook without rice."

As he said this, he scooped a spoonful of water-refined calf into his mouth.

Liu Gan sat there, feeling a mixture of emotions. The soldiers, militiamen, and common people outside had all run out of food and were starving, yet this commander-in-chief, this prince, was still enjoying such luxurious food.

This beef stew is stewed over high heat until the meat is tender and becomes thick and thick.

He used to eat it often, and it was indeed delicious, but now he couldn't eat it.

"My king, the city is completely out of food, and our brothers are starving."

Li Shuliang said, "Eat it while it's hot. It will taste fishy if it gets cold."

"Your Majesty, I ask that you distribute the grain stored in the General's Mansion to the soldiers."

Li Shuliang said with a smile: "General Liu, how much food is there in my General Manager's Mansion? Even if I take it out to share, it would be a drop in the bucket."

"Can,"

"Look here," Li Shuliang put down the spoon, "you take the soldiers and go borrow grain from the wealthy families in the city. They must have some stored. Borrow from them and promise to return it after the battle. I, Li Shuliang, will guarantee it."

"Your Majesty, we have borrowed so much food recently that we can no longer borrow any more."

Li Shuliang still had that smile on his face. "If it doesn't work, then kill the horse."

Liu Gan was silent.

War horses are valuable, but he can't care about that at this moment. How long can a war horse eat? He knew that Li Shuliang actually hid a lot of food, but he was not willing to give it out.

"I will retire at the end."

Liu Gan got up and left without touching a single bite of the delicious food and wine on the table.

After returning, Liu Gan ordered his personal guards to bring out his mount and kill it.
"Let's make a pot of horse meat soup for everyone."

There were too many hungry soldiers and horses in the city, but there were only a limited number of horses, so they could only kill a small number at a time, add more water, and give each person some soup.

Liu Gan's mount was killed and stewed, but he did not eat either the soup or the meat. He only took out some of the horse bones after the meat was taken out of the stew, stewed them again with water, and ate them mixed with sawdust to satisfy his hunger.

The brothers Luo Dafu and Luo Dagui each received a bowl of horse meat soup. There was no horse meat and the soup was not very thick, but the brothers were very excited.

Take a sip of soup and stuff a handful of bran into your mouth.

"Eat more bran. Just drinking soup won't satisfy your hunger. Bran will make you feel better."

"Brother, you can't eat too much bran, otherwise you won't be able to poop. Someone once ate bran secretly and got bloated, and eventually died."

······
Outside Jingzhou City,

The new Qin emperor Xue Rengao looked at the city of Jingzhou with such clenched teeth that he almost broke them.

I didn't expect it to be so difficult to attack.

"My lords, our army is running low on food and fodder, and Jingzhou City remains impassable. I have heard that Li Shimin has arrived with his army. What should we do?"

Although the Longyou cavalry was elite, Xue Rengao had been defeated by Li Shimin in Fufeng before.

The Internal History Commander Zhai Changsun spoke up, "Your Majesty, I think it would be better to withdraw our troops to Longyou first to regroup and fight again later."

The Qin army was about to run out of food. Relying on looting was not enough, and even if they wanted to transport food from Longyou, they couldn't get it. Xue Rengao was a little unwilling to accept this.

If we withdraw like this now, I'm afraid the morale of the army will be broken and the situation will be hopeless.

But if we continue fighting, we will have no food inside and powerful enemies outside.

"Prime Minister Hao?" Xue Rengao looked at Hao Yuan.

"I have a plan that may help us seize Jingzhou."

"Oh, tell me quickly."

······
Li Shuliang urgently summoned Liu Gan to the General Administration Office to discuss matters.

"I have good news for you. The King of Qin has already set out from Chang'an with 20,000 reinforcements and a large amount of food and fodder. They will arrive soon."

"There's also good news. Bandit Xue has run out of food. He quietly withdrew his troops last night, without even taking his barracks."

The fat Li Shuliang was spinning around the room excitedly.

Liu Gan was also delighted when he heard this. "God bless the Tang Dynasty, God bless us, the soldiers and the people of Jingzhou. We are finally saved."

As long as the enemy withdraws, the siege of Jingzhou City will be lifted. Even if food does not arrive for a while, everyone can go out of the city to get some wild vegetables and leaves to fill their stomachs, or let the people go to Changwu and other places to find food.

"General Liu, there is another good news."

"Any other good news?"

"A general from the Xue army in Zhecheng City is willing to submit to the Tang Dynasty. He has secretly sent someone to say that he is willing to hand over Zhecheng City."

Li Shuliang ordered Liu Gan to lead a group of soldiers to quickly take over Zhecheng City.

"Recapturing Zhecheng City is also a great achievement."

Liu Gan was not overwhelmed by this series of good news. "Is this a scam?"

"The Xue bandit army has invaded and held us here for months. Their food and fodder situation can be estimated. Now that they are out of food and our reinforcements are arriving, it is inevitable that they will retreat. The Xue army left behind in Zhecheng City also knows their place and will surrender the city at this time. It is also inevitable."

Although Liu felt that he should still be cautious,

However, Li Shuliang had already issued a military order as the general manager, ordering Liu Gan to lead 3,000 men to quickly take over Zhecheng City.
Liu Gan was unable to disobey the order, so he had no choice but to gather 3,000 men and horses and head towards Zhecheng City.

Their cavalry was small to begin with, and their horses were killed to satisfy their hunger, so the three thousand men had no choice but to march on foot.

Rushed all the way to the foot of Zhecheng City,
But the city gate was closed.

A general on the city wall shouted, "General, you have come a long way and worked hard. Please rest outside the city first."

Liu Gan realized that something was wrong and ordered the city gates to be opened, but the people on the city wall ignored him.

"Set fire to the door,"

Liu Gan and his men arrived in a hurry and had no siege equipment, so they set fire to the gate, but the fire was immediately extinguished by pouring water on the city wall.

"withdraw,"

Liu Gan acted decisively and was certain that the surrender of Zhecheng City was a feigned surrender, and their feigned surrender meant that Xue Rengao might not have retreated at all.

The Tang army turned around and retreated.
Three beacon fires had already been raised on the top of the city wall.

The wolf smoke rose up and soared into the sky.

Xue Rengao's troops, who had been lying in ambush on the periphery, immediately surrounded them.

Liu Gan personally covered the rear and protected the troops while fighting and retreating.

But how could the 3,000 Tang army infantrymen who had not had a full meal for a long time defeat the tens of thousands of elite infantrymen and cavalrymen from Longyou? Especially under the attack of the enemy's elite cavalry, the Tang army kept falling down.

The Tang army retreated to Bailixichuan and was eventually surrounded. After a fierce battle,
Most of the Tang army were killed or wounded, and the rest were captured, including Liu Gan.

"I've been fighting General Liu for a long time, but this is the first time I've seen him. I admire the general's bravery, especially since he had the opportunity to escape just now, but he stayed behind to cover his retreat."

Xue Rengao did not kill Liu Gan. Instead, he personally untied him and gave him a glass of wine.

"If General Liu can help me persuade the Jingzhou defenders to surrender, I will appoint him as General of the Left Guard and Duke of Gaochang."

"I have a condition."

"explain."

"After Jingzhou City surrenders, I hope that no lives of the soldiers and civilians in the city will be harmed."

"I promise you." Xue Rengao was very happy to see Liu Gan was so obedient.

He immediately led his army to launch a surprise attack and returned to the city of Jingzhou.

Liu Gan slowly walked out of the formation and came to the foot of Jingzhou City alone.

Li Shuliang in the city rushed to the city gate tower and saw Liu Gan being brought in by Xue Rengao. He was so frightened that he turned pale and almost fainted.

"Brothers in Jingzhou City," Liu Gan shouted loudly,
"The Xue bandits are out of food and can no longer hold out. Hold on for a few more days, or the King of Qin's 100,000-man army will be here soon."

"Xue Ni will perish, and the Tang Dynasty will triumph!"

Xue Rengao, who was at the rear, nearly fell off his horse when he heard this shout.

"How dare you, my dog slave, bully me!"

"Drag that dog slave over here!"

Xue Rengao was furious and ordered a pit to be dug in front of the Jingzhou city gate. Liu Gan was buried up to his knees and stood there like a target.

Xue Rengao mounted his horse and, in front of countless people from both sides,
They rode and shot arrows back and forth, turning Liu Gan into a hedgehog.

Liu Gan kept shouting and cursing, and never begged for mercy.

"I have always been loyal to the thief Xue, so I have nothing to fear. After my death, Your Majesty will provide for my wife and children. Brothers in the city, hold on!"

Liu Gan finally died in front of Jingzhou City with arrows all over his body.
Although Xue Rengao annihilated 3,000 soldiers from Jingzhou, his attempt to persuade them to surrender failed. He angrily attacked for a while, but had to retreat to Zhecheng City after leaving behind a field of corpses.

(End of this chapter)