Tang Dynasty Swordsman.

When Li Ji and his men arrived, they could see from afar that the rebel army had already approached Heyang Bridge and set up numerous camps, with banners fluttering in the wind, seemingly numbering no less than 100,000. Of course, since Zhang Xun was still guarding the Luoyang Palace, Shi Siming certainly wouldn't dare to put all his main forces here, so those many banners were probably just a feint.

After entering Heyang City, Jing Jiang handed over the grain and fodder, then went with Lei Wanchun to pay their respects to Li Guangbi. Li Ji, having no official rank in the army, could only wait outside. He took the opportunity to inquire among the nearby Shuofang soldiers whether the government troops and the rebel army had engaged in battle in the past few days, and what the outcome was.

The other party replied, "Yes, General Bai just beheaded the bandit general Liu Longxian the other day..."

Liu Longxian was also a valiant general in the rebel army. Shi Siming had just set up camp south of Heyang Bridge when he sent Liu Longxian to lead troops to challenge the enemy's fortifications. Confident in his strength and fearing the enemy would hold their ground, Liu Longxian brazenly removed his right foot from the stirrup, placed it on the horse's neck, and launched into a tirade of insults against Li Guangbi, beginning with the ancestors of the Khitan people…

Li Guangbi happened to be in the camp, so he looked around at the generals and asked, "Who can take this barbarian's head for me?" Pugu Huai'en immediately stepped forward to volunteer, but Li Guangbi shook his head and said, "You are a general, it is not appropriate for you to fight him personally." His men suggested, "The deputy general Bai Xiaode is suitable."

So Li Guangbi summoned Bai Xiaode, a Hu general from Anxi, and asked him how many men he needed. Bai Xiaode replied, "This humble general can achieve victory by riding alone!" Li Guangbi was quite impressed with his ambition, but still asked, "How many men do you need?" After all, war is not child's play, and you shouldn't be too overconfident.

Finally, Bai Xiaode requested, "I am willing to select fifty riders to follow me out of the fortress as reinforcements, and I also request the main army to help boost morale." Li Guangbi patted him on the back and agreed.

So Bai Xiaode, wielding two spears, spurred his horse forward. Liu Longxian, seeing only one person approaching, was quite dismissive. Just as he lowered his right leg, about to make a move, Bai Xiaode waved his hand, as if to say: I'm not here to fight, I'm here to talk.

Ten paces apart, the two began to speak. Liu Longxian, still swearing, continued to curse Li Guangbi's ancestors. Bai Xiaode paused for a moment, then suddenly opened his eyes wide and demanded, "Do you know me?" Liu Longxian asked, "Who are you?" Bai Xiaode introduced himself, and Liu Longxian scoffed, "What kind of pig or dog are you?"

Bai Xiaode immediately roared, spurred his horse, and charged straight at Liu Longxian with his spear. Drums and shouts erupted from the camp, and fifty Tang cavalrymen followed in pursuit. Liu Longxian fled in terror, but was overtaken by Bai Xiaode as soon as he reached the embankment. Bai Xiaode struck him in the back with his spear, killing him instantly. He then cut off Liu Longxian's head and returned triumphantly.

As a result, the rebels suffered a major setback and did not dare to launch a fierce attack on the Tang army for two consecutive days.

Those Shuofang soldiers seemed to all have a talent for storytelling. Working together, they gestured wildly, recounting Bai Xiaode's slaying of Liu Longxian with incredible realism, as if they had been right behind Bai Xiaode at the time. Li Ji, listening, couldn't help but secretly admire Bai Xiaode's bravery, thinking to himself, "Our Tang Dynasty has brave generals and famous commanders, but alas, the emperor is unreliable..."

Afterwards, the soldiers said, "Now that Liu Longxian has been beheaded, Shi will probably send up 'the one who can defeat ten thousand men'."

Li Ji was very interested: "Oh, who is the 'enemy of ten thousand' in the rebel army?"

"There is not one, but three: Gao Tinghui, Li Riyue, and Yu Wenjing—I wonder if General Bai can defeat them."

Li Ji smiled and said, "Let's wait for Gao Tinghui." He thought to himself that the other two were out of the question. One had already been beheaded, and his head was probably on Li Guangbi's desk right now. The other had been hit by my mace and wouldn't be able to go into battle for at least ten days or half a month.

Suddenly someone called out, "The deputy commander requests that Military Advisor Li answer his questions."

Li Ji hurriedly straightened his clothes, glanced at Cui Qi who was standing silently to the side, and instructed him, "The army has strict rules, so don't wander around." He then stepped into the main hall of the commander's mansion.

As expected, Li Guangbi sat at the head of the table, surrounded by his generals. On the table in front of him lay Li Riyue's large, open head... Li Ji bowed, and Li Guangbi nodded, saying, "I have seen you before in Ding'an, at the military headquarters." A man nearby, disregarding etiquette, shouted, "You scoundrel, you broke your promise! You said you'd come to help me, so why did you go to Longyou?!"

Li Ji looked closely and indeed it was Pugu Huai'en. He immediately clasped his hands in apology: "I dare not disobey the imperial order. I beg the general for forgiveness."

Pugu Huai'en said, "General Lei and the others have already told you about your situation. Luoyang is currently at peace, and the enemy army is under the walls of Heyang. Since you have come, you should not leave. Join my command and lead a battalion of cavalry."

Before Li Ji could answer, Li Guangbi said, “That’s not appropriate. Li Ji was originally a military advisor in the Yingwu Army. He came to Luoyang only for personal matters. Now that his personal matters are settled, he should return to Chang’an to cancel his leave. How can General Pugu keep him here without permission?”

Li Ji hurriedly said, "This humble official joined the Yingwu Army to protect the Emperor. By fighting the rebels here and halting their advance, Guanzhong will naturally be safe. I have requested a two-month leave, and there is still plenty of time. I humbly request that you, Minister of Works, keep me here and let me serve under your command."

Pugu Huaien also said, "Who in the army doesn't know Li Erlang, who defeated the barbarians in Longyou? With Li Ji here, our army's morale will surely be greatly boosted. How can we let such a treasure go so easily? Since he is willing, it does not violate the laws of the court, so the deputy commander should agree."

Li Guangbi thought for a moment and said, “Very well. Since the enemy has come from afar, it is advantageous for a quick battle. They will soon launch a fierce attack on Heyang. If we can blunt their momentum and hold out for about a month, the enemy’s morale will be dampened, and the area west of the capital will be temporarily safe. I will keep Li Ji here for a month. After a month, General Pugu must not be kept any longer, otherwise it will ruin his future. Wouldn’t that be the general’s fault?”

Pugu Huai'en was overjoyed and hurriedly cupped his hands, saying, "Thank you, Vice Commander!"

Old Jing, sitting at the lower end, seized the opportunity to plead, "Please stay as well. Well... now that the rebels are pressing in and the road back is blocked, why not wait a month until the deputy commander has also stopped the rebels and Li Erlang should be going back? Then I can escort him back to Shaanxi."

Li Guangbi gave his approval.

Pugu Huaien, holding Li Ji's hand in one hand and Lao Jing's hand in the other, stepped out of the hall, then let go of Li Ji's hand and bowed to him: "I heard that my daughter's return to Tang was also due to the help of Changwei. I thank you in advance."

Li Ji hurriedly waved his hand: "That was all thanks to Princess Ningguo, what merit do I have?"

Pugu Huaien laughed and said, "I have long wanted to fight alongside Changwei, but you went to Longyou... I never thought that I would be able to fulfill my long-cherished wish today." He turned to Lao Jing and said, "Your soldiers and laborers will also be under my command for the time being."

Li Ji then realized: What about Cui Qi? A small team of a few hundred men was easy to manage, but now with tens of thousands of troops here, a woman like her sneaking in will most likely cause trouble…

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Chapter Twenty-Five: Good Horses Are Easily Obtained

Li Ji ultimately decided to tell Pugu Huai'en the truth, and used Consort Shen as a shield—"Her Highness Consort Shen insisted that she look after me, so I had no choice but to bring her here..."

Of course, Cui Qi's true identity was not revealed; he was only said to be a confidant of Consort Shen.

Pugu Huai'en stroked his beard: "Let's go and take a look first."

Upon meeting Cui Qi, Li Ji instructed Cui Qi to pay his respects. Pugu Huai'en sized him up, then glanced sideways at Li Ji, a hint of amusement in his eyes. Li Ji thought to himself, "What do you mean? How come everyone's getting the wrong idea?"

Pugu Huai'en wasn't thinking anything of it. He was figuring out that a young woman like him was following him around everywhere, and Consort Shen even sent her to "look after" him—that clearly implied a marriage decree... Oh, but their statuses don't match; she was probably sending her to be his concubine. This young man is quite the ladies' man!

Although this girl is frail and her appearance is rather ordinary, she is ultimately a gift from Consort Shen. When the Crown Prince ascends the throne, Consort Shen will at least be granted the title of Consort De or Consort Xian; and when the next generation, the Prince of Fengjie, ascends the throne, she will even have a chance to become Empress Dowager! In this way, this little girl's five points in figure and five points in appearance, with the help of Consort Shen, can all be added to a perfect ten!

Don't you understand the meaning of "take care of"? How can you bring someone into the military camp?

He then said, "I will find a house in the city to settle down for the time being."

Cui Qi hurriedly pleaded, "His Highness has ordered me to always look after Military Advisor Li. I am also skilled in riding a horse and wielding a sword. If Military Advisor Li goes into battle, I will accompany him to assist him—I humbly request the General's permission."

Pugu Huai'en frowned, then noticed the horse beside Cui Qi. He immediately pointed at it and said, "This is a fine steed in the army. How did it fall into your hands? And can you even ride it?"

Li Ji hurriedly said, "It was originally Li Riyue's mount. General Lei killed Li Riyue in battle and brought it to her as a gift—oh, General Lei doesn't know she is a woman yet, so please keep it a secret."

Cui Qi didn't speak, but simply leaped onto the horse's back, then pulled on the reins and circled several times in front of Pugu Huai'en. The circles were less than ten feet in diameter, causing the horse to snort and snort angrily, and even kick its legs repeatedly. However, Cui Qi remained firmly seated in the saddle, his body not swaying at all.

Pugu Huaien couldn't help but exclaim, "She's just like the Ping... Hong Fu Nu from the early years of the dynasty!"

He originally intended to say "Princess Pingyang," but comparing a princess to a maid was ultimately inappropriate. As for Hong Fu Nu, although folk tales say she was Li Weigong's principal wife, that's certainly unreliable. If she did exist, she was most likely a concubine, though it's not unreasonable to use her as a comparison.

Pugu Huai'en said, "Then let this woman temporarily serve as your personal attendant. Be careful and don't easily reveal your identity." He then put his arm around Li Ji's shoulder, pulled him aside, and said in a low voice, "Don't worry, I will allocate a house for this woman to serve you 'personally'."

Li Ji hurriedly said, "I didn't mean that..."

Pugu Huai'en laughed and said, "A true man should know how to ride a horse, and he should also know how to ride a woman. If he can't sleep with a woman at night, how will he have the strength to go into battle and kill the enemy the next day?"

Li Ji thought to himself, "What kind of twisted logic is this?" He immediately retorted, "I suppose the general is always attended to by women..."

Pugu Huaien chuckled dryly three times, released Li Ji, and strode away on his own.

Li Ji was still pursing his lips when he heard Cui Qi behind him ask, "What did General Pugu say to you?"

Li Ji turned his head and smiled dismissively, "It was just some idle talk. They wanted me to protect you at all costs..."

Cui Qi interrupted him, saying, "I heard everything."

Li Ji thought to himself, "That makes sense. Those skilled in launching hidden weapons are also likely adept at defending against them, and must possess the ability to hear and discern sounds. Your hearing must be quite good... But you're used to being a spy, aren't you? How come you dare to eavesdrop on everything?" He quickly clarified, "General Pugu, you misunderstand. I had absolutely no such intention..."

Cui Qi remained expressionless, only nodding slightly: "No need to explain, I understand..." Li Ji had just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the little girl continue: "Anyway, I'm ugly, so no one will like me."

Li Ji almost choked on his words; he opened his mouth, but didn't know how to reply...

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Pugu Huaien did find a small courtyard for Li Ji to settle in, and ordered two soldiers to guard the gate and be ready to serve him. However, he instructed, "Li Ji's daily life is taken care of by that man surnamed Cui whom he brought. You are not allowed to summon him or enter without permission." He then ordered someone to bring bedding. There was only one mattress and one quilt, although both were quite large.

Li Ji had no choice but to give all his bedding to Cui Qi, saying, "I'll go sleep in the corridor."

After all, Cui Qi was someone else's maid, and he couldn't just make a move on her; besides, Li Ji didn't have the same peculiar tastes as Pugu Huai'en. He was going to war tomorrow, and he wouldn't dare waste his energy on a woman tonight...

It is said that this General Pugu has a large number of children, so he must have many wives and concubines as well. Perhaps it is because of this hobby that he can have sown so many seed and reaped such a bountiful harvest. Thinking about it again, it seems that Guo Ziyi has even more children and grandchildren. Could this be a tradition of the Shuofang Army?! Thinking of this, Li Ji couldn't help but feel a chill.

But Cui Qi refused his offer, saying, "You may be going to battle tomorrow, so it's better to stay warm and sleep indoors to avoid catching a cold. I'll sleep on the porch—I've often slept outdoors before, and I'm used to it."

Li Ji pointed to the bedding that had been laid out, his eyes widening: "You insisted on coming along, so how can you disobey my orders? Today you must sleep in the room. I will either go to the corridor or stay here with you—the choice is yours!" As he spoke, he spread his arms and made a pouncing motion.

Cui Qi panicked and had no choice but to back down: "If you go to the corridor, you'll be exposed to the wind and dew—you can take this quilt; I'll just wrap myself in the mattress and sleep in the room..."

Nothing was said that night. The next day, he got up and said goodbye to Lei Wanchun—Old Lei had also rested enough and had to hurry back to the Luoyang Palace.

Pugu Huai'en assigned all of Lao Jing's Shence troops to Li Ji's command, temporarily appointing him as commander. Li Ji asked, "You originally said you would give me a battalion of cavalry, but now there are only a hundred warhorses... Is it because there are few horses in the city?" He was skilled at and enjoyed leading cavalry charges, and if infantry and cavalry were mixed, a small force of a few hundred men would be inconvenient to coordinate and command.

Pugu Huaien laughed and said, "The horses are here, they will be here shortly, so please be patient."

He then led Li Ji out of the city to tour the camp, meeting with the generals and saying to everyone he met, "This is Li Erlang, the commander of the Longyou army. He has come to help us. Even if the enemy army has a million men, in my opinion, they are nothing but clay chickens and earthen dogs!" Everyone cheered. The army respected brave warriors, especially when facing a great enemy. Who wouldn't want more comrades who could fight?

At noon, Pugu Huaien led Li Ji back to the city and climbed the city wall. He then pointed outside the city and said with a smile, "Let's see the deputy commander's brilliant plan to take the enemy's fine horses for our use!"

It turned out that Shi Siming's army had over a thousand fine horses from the north. To intimidate the city, he released these horses daily to wash and drink on the south bank, and would occasionally lead them away, circle around, and then drive them back, repeating this cycle to demonstrate their numbers. Some members of the Tang army were indeed intimidated and advised Li Guangbi: "Judging from the enemy's elite cavalry, there are no fewer than five thousand. Therefore, we must rely on our strongholds for defense and absolutely cannot go out into the open to fight!"

Li Guangbi asked, "How many troops are there in my city?"

The answer was: "Less than three thousand, and most of them are mares and foals; males only make up seven or eight out of ten. Among them, those who appear to be thieves number less than a thousand..."

Li Guangbi smiled and said, "In that case, let's take the thief's horse and use it for our own purposes."

So he searched for mares in the army and obtained four or five hundred, tying all their foals to the city. Early this morning, Shi Siming released the more than one thousand fine horses again, circling them twice. There was no movement in the city, and the guards completely relaxed their vigilance, taking off their armor and drawing water from the river to bathe.

Seeing this, Li Guangbi released all the mares outside the fortress, where they galloped and neighed across the Yellow River. The fine horses on the other side, mostly stallions, were agitated by the sight and rushed forward, leaping into the river to cross and find the mares... In any case, this section of the Yellow River had a very gentle current, so even those tall horses had no difficulty crossing.

Li Guangbi hurriedly ordered his men to lead the mare back, but the mare, concerned for her foal, did not want to stay outside the city for long, even though she saw a large group of strong, shiny-coated "good men" rushing towards her like butterflies flitting among flowers with drooling mouths... The rebel stallions chased after them from behind, and in the blink of an eye, they all returned to the city.

Li Ji, watching from the city wall, was dumbfounded—Holy crap, is this even possible?! Just then, he heard Pugu Huai'en laugh beside him: "The deputy commander and I are both Hu... we are from herdsman backgrounds and know horses very well. These little tricks are actually commonly used by us on the grasslands—look, Changwei, aren't there some good horses here? I'll go ask the deputy commander for more."

Li Ji felt a little dizzy and blurted out, "Aren't these male horses castrated?"

Warhorses were primarily stallions, firstly because they were generally larger and stronger than mares, and secondly because they didn't suffer from the problem of being forced to retire due to unplanned pregnancies—for example, the mares in Heyang City were mostly kept to carry military supplies and rarely used for combat. However, stallions in heat are very aggressive and almost impossible to control, posing a significant threat on the battlefield.

Therefore, the military horses of later generations were mainly geldings—once they were castrated, they were at peace and free from worries.

Li Ji knew that the Longyou army had many geldings, including the fine steed he had ridden from Longyou. So he couldn't understand why so many of the rebel army's warhorses were capable of drooling over mares; why weren't they castrated?

Pugu Huai'en said, "Horses in the north are mostly not gelded, especially such fine steeds; it would be a pity to geld them..."

Li Jicai realized that the technique, or rather the custom, of gelding horses was not yet widespread in all aspects at that time. As for these fine northern stallions, their owners certainly wanted to keep them for breeding and were reluctant to geld them... The key was that with years of war, not only had many soldiers died, but warhorses had also suffered heavy casualties, so those that remained were even less likely to be castrated.

Li Guangbi understood this point, which is why he used this ingenious technique to acquire more than a thousand fine horses in one fell swoop.

Li Ji couldn't help but laugh and said, "Shi Siming has lost so many fine horses, he must be crying his heart out, right?" Pugu Huai'en glanced at him and said, "Victory is nothing to be happy about, defeat is nothing to be sad about - given Shi Siming's nature, he will surely seek revenge - Changwei must not be careless."

As expected, Shi Siming's revenge came swiftly. He gathered hundreds of warships upstream, with fire ships in front, attempting to burn down the pontoon bridge. Li Guangbi, however, took out hundreds of long poles he had prepared beforehand, bound huge logs to their roots, and inserted iron forks into their tops to repel the fire ships. In this way, the fire ships could not approach the pontoon bridge and were all burned and scuttled.

Li Guangbi then set up makeshift artillery pieces on the pontoon bridge, destroying most of the rebel warships.

The key issue is that Shi Siming doesn't have any large ships. If he were coming from downstream, that would be fine, but upstream of the Heyang Bridge, how much territory does he actually occupy? If he were to build ships on the spot, wouldn't he be afraid of being wiped out by Zhang Xun's troops? The so-called hundreds of warships are actually mostly simple civilian boats that have been modified. Each boat can carry at most twenty or thirty people, so how much combat power can they have?

Upon seeing this from the city walls, Li Ji felt relieved—Li Guangbi was indeed a skilled strategist. With 20,000 men holding off 100,000, as long as supplies were plentiful, holding the position shouldn't be a problem. I had been considering staying a few more days if the situation didn't improve significantly after a month, but it seems that's unnecessary now.

In truth, among the vast army, his presence or absence wouldn't make a difference. He was simply worried and preferred to risk his life fighting here rather than return to Chang'an. He just waited anxiously for news from afar...

Immediately, Pugu Huai'en came to deliver the order, saying that he had obtained three hundred fine horses, all of which were given to him—"The deputy commander has ordered that you follow him to guard Yeshui Ferry."

Yeshui Ferry is located west of Heyang Bridge, south of Heqing City. Heqing and Heyang, one on the left and one on the right, guard Heyang Bridge, only Heqing City is slightly farther away. During the day, Li Guangbi defended the bridge against the enemy and noticed that the rebels intended to take the opportunity to survey the upstream waters. He worried that they would attack Yeshui Ferry and then directly seize Heqing City. If Heqing fell, the supply lines from the east of the river would be cut off.

Therefore, Li Guangbi personally led a contingent of troops—including Li Ji—to guard Yeshuidu. Of course, as the commander-in-chief, he could not stay away for long. So, after resting for half a day at Yeshuidu and strengthening the fortifications, he left his subordinate Yong Xihao to guard the area and returned to Heyang City.

He said to Yong Xihao, "There are many people on the south bank. If the bandit Shi sees my flag, he may send a fierce general to rob me. I will go back now and leave you here. Be careful and do not lose it."

Yong Xihao asked, "Since it is said that a fierce general was sent to abduct the deputy commander, it is most likely Gao Tinghui... I am afraid that I cannot withstand him, what should I do?" Li Guangbi smiled and pointed at Li Ji: "If we leave Li Erlang here, what is there to fear from Gao Tinghui?"

Li Ji thought to himself, "You really think highly of me... Of the three 'warriors capable of taking on ten thousand men,' I've already fought two of them, and I consider my skills to be roughly equal. I've heard that Gao Tinghui is ranked above Li Riyue and Yu Wenjing, so this opponent might not be so easy to deal with."