Tang Dynasty Swordsman.

Although the Tang army had a rule for the unified distribution of spoils of war, it was generally not strictly enforced. Soldiers who found or seized enemy supplies and equipment on the battlefield would usually hide them themselves. Unless they were very valuable or of significant political importance, military judges would not come to demand them back afterward. Therefore, if a different general were to make such a call, it would most likely be ineffective; everyone would still grab what they wanted, at most sharing some with their superiors.

Li Ji's repeated valiant battles had already established sufficient prestige within the army. New recruits were mostly fearful, while veteran soldiers held him in high esteem, and thus dared not easily disobey Li Ji's orders. Of course, some people also cried out, "These items are first come, first served, and naturally they should all belong to the Shence Army. Second Brother, please do not give them to other armies!"

Despite their shouting, those who had already grabbed something refused to take it out again, and naturally rearranged themselves, no longer rushing forward in a swarm.

In the short time that followed, Di De, who was guarding the banner of the Yabghu in the formation, also caught up. After looking around, he asked Li Ji, "You stopped after going less than twenty miles. Are you afraid of an ambush?"

Li Ji laughed loudly, "Does Ma Chongying compare himself to Zhuge Liang? Alas, I am not Zhang Junyi!"

Di De looked completely bewildered—I've heard of Zhuge Kongming, but who is Zhang Junyi?

Li Ji pointed his spear forward and explained, "Before the two armies clashed, I came to Shancheng to survey the terrain. I've traveled far beyond that, but I've covered all the areas within these twenty or thirty miles. I have long kept the layout of the mountains and rivers in my mind."

"Don't you see that the Huangshui River is gradually moving south, and the path ahead is getting narrower and narrower? I suspect there must be an ambush at the dangerous pass ahead!"

Di De frowned and asked, "The terrain is indeed like this, but judging from the retreat of the barbarian bandits, it doesn't seem like a pretense... Since we're pursuing the enemy, we should at least fight our way through for half a day. Now that we've stopped due to doubts, wouldn't it be a pity if there were no ambush ahead?"

Li Ji glanced at him, thinking to himself, "I even patted my chest in front of Guo Xin and Li Yuanzhong, saying that you are a veteran general of the Uyghurs, that you must be cautious and able to assist me so that we don't fall into the enemy's trap... Turns out you're even more reckless than me!"

Upon further reflection, it became clear that Emperor Decai's understanding of the enemy's situation and the strengths and weaknesses of the generals in Longyou was not yet deep enough. Therefore, it was understandable that he failed to see through Ma Chongying's scheme. I wasn't actually being cautious, but rather afraid that I had been too reckless lately. I was constantly on guard and subconsciously had to rein in my spirited horse, which is why I was able to see through the enemy's scheme.

So he explained again: "Ma Chongying is a great minister of Tibet, second only to the emperor, and the commander-in-chief of the entire army. If you cannot win in front of the Uyghur army and are forced to retreat, do you think you can let the crown prince of Yabghu or the prime minister Dunmohedagan cover the rear?"

Dide suddenly realized, "Unless the Khan is in the army."

Li Ji nodded: "If the Tibetan king were in the army, it would be understandable that Ma Chongying would be covering the rear. But now that he is personally covering the rear as the commander-in-chief and deliberately raising his flag, there are only two possibilities: First, no one else can be trusted, and only he himself can shoulder such a heavy responsibility; second, he is using himself as bait to lure our army into an ambush."

"Ma Chongying is also a veteran general of the Tibetans. Since he personally covered the rear, if he wasn't deliberately trying to lure us, why would his troops be in disarray and retreating in such a disorganized manner? At first, I was a little suspicious, but seeing the baggage train scattered all over the ground, I knew there must be a trap—Ma Chongying's act has gone a bit too far; too much of a good thing can be bad..."

Emperor De asked, "What is a play?" Then he realized that now was not the time to improve Tang language skills—"Then what should we do? Should we just give up now?"

After thinking for a moment, Li Ji immediately ordered everyone to dismount and sit down to rest.

—You try to lure me with supplies, so I'll lure you back with my own dismount; I, "Li Erlang," am right here, seemingly easy to capture. Ma Chongying, do you dare to turn around and fight?

When the news reached Ma Chongying, he couldn't help but sigh, "I didn't expect that Li Erlang was so cunning, he actually didn't fall into my trap..." One of his subordinates, who was indignant, immediately requested, "Li Erlang led the Uyghur troops to pursue us, but there were only a thousand cavalrymen. Now that they have boldly dismounted, our army can counterattack them. Even if we can't get their heads, we can still severely defeat them."

Ma Chongying shook his head: "Dismounting in front of the enemy is a feigned weakness. Does that mean they don't have a backup plan? We must not act rashly!"

Just then, a loud shout came from the east of the valley. Ma Chongying ordered someone to go and investigate: "What are they shouting?" A short while later, they returned and reported: "That Li Erlang has gathered a crowd and is shouting that he is respectfully sending the Great Discourse Master back to his country."

This is certainly not the exact wording, because the original words dare not be reported back... In fact, what Li Ji ordered everyone to shout in unison was:

"Li Erlang slaughtered Ma Chongying here, leaving him disarmed and fleeing in disarray. This must be recorded in stone and named the 'Monument to the Slaughter of Ma'!"

At this time, Li Ji was east of the valley entrance, and Ma Chongying was west of it, nearly two miles apart. Due to the obstruction of the cliffs, they could not see each other. The five hundred ambushers at the valley entrance were positioned between them, roughly at the apex of an obtuse equilateral triangle. Therefore, Ma Chongying could hear the Tang army's shouts, but not clearly; however, the ambush soldiers at the valley entrance heard them very clearly, and among those soldiers, some even had a rudimentary understanding of the Tang language.

Fueled by this resentment, and considering the enemy's current state, they were unlikely to step on the trap again. What was the point of remaining in ambush here? The distance wasn't far, yet Li Erlang and his men dismounted, sitting vulnerable. If they charged out now, they might very well behead them! Being elite troops, who wouldn't dare? Immediately under their commander's orders, they boldly broke through the ambush and charged straight towards the Tang army.

Although Li Ji was sitting on the ground, he never let his guard down. He felt the ground shake and knew that the enemy was attacking. Of course, he mistakenly thought that Ma Chongying had been provoked by his harsh words and could not restrain himself and had turned back to fight. He immediately leaped up, mounted his horse, and charged straight forward with his lance in hand.

Di De and the others were shocked and hurriedly mounted their horses to follow, but they always lagged behind Li Ji by several dozen feet.

The Tibetan ambush troops had barely rounded the valley entrance when a rider appeared in an instant, wielding a spear that pierced the heart of the unfortunate man at the forefront. The rider then shouted, "Li Erlang is here, here to challenge Ma Chongying to a duel!"

The Tibetan soldiers were all greatly alarmed.

We thought we were unprepared and coming to collect kills, but instead we found ourselves caught off guard, while the enemy had already taken a head. This psychological gap could easily shatter any courage we'd just mustered. Besides, while not many people might understand the Tang language, the name "Li Erlang" was legendary—everyone said Li Erlang dismounted and was cursing us, how did he get here so quickly? Now he has a horse and a spear; how could we possibly be a match for him?

The barbarian general hurriedly waved his flags and rallied his soldiers. He ordered the central forces to retreat slightly, allowing Li Erlang to enter, then flanking him from both sides, determined to capture him. Unexpectedly, Li Ji killed three enemies in the blink of an eye, then turned his horse and galloped back…

Di De and his men, who had been pursuing them, were also forced to stop. They stood facing the Tibetan army from a distance of two arrow-lengths apart. With a thousand cavalry against five hundred, the Tibetan soldiers dared not advance, nor could they retreat. They could only stand there, weapons in hand, dumbfounded.

Emperor De asked Li Ji, "Why not continue the charge?"

Li Ji shook his head: "It's enough to intimidate them. If I go deep into their territory, the enemy will surely come out of their ambush—let's wait a little while." As for the fact that these were indeed the ambush troops—at least all the ambush troops on the south bank of the Huangshui River—he ultimately didn't have God's perspective and couldn't see through them.

"Wait a moment? Wait for what?"

Li Ji laughed and said, "We can kill Ma Chongying here once General Li arrives!"

The reason why Ma Chongying dared to use himself as bait and only set up an ambush with 500 soldiers at the entrance of Huangnan Valley was twofold. First, the battlefield was narrow, and it would be difficult to spread out more people. Second, the Tang people would definitely pursue him with cavalry. The trap I set was to catch this cavalry. If thousands or tens of thousands of cavalry and infantry came at the same time, I would never be able to fight a large-scale positional battle here again.

Theoretically speaking, this is of course impossible. Infantry moves slowly, and if they were to rush for twenty miles, they would inevitably become exhausted—while a fine horse can often travel twenty miles at a speed—so if infantry and cavalry come together, they simply cannot catch up with my rearguard. I would have plenty of time to gather my ambush troops and retreat together.

That makes little difference from the other side not pursuing closely, rendering the ambush useless.

However, while Guo Xin and Li Yuanzhong would certainly spend time searching and killing the barbarian strongholds to prevent ambushes—it would be ridiculous if the entire army went to pursue them only to find the barbarian army lying in wait in their strongholds, cutting off their retreat—they couldn't simply leisurely stroll behind them, with the barbarians not returning and not coming to their aid. Therefore, setting up an ambush and killing the enemy had to be limited to a relatively short window of time, and now, a thousand Tang cavalrymen and five hundred barbarian soldiers could not maintain a prolonged stalemate.

Sure enough, a short while later, a report came: "General Li has led his troops and is approaching."

Li Ji laughed loudly, "The time has come! Gentlemen, follow me to kill the traitors!"

Since Li Yuanzhong will arrive soon, I'm not afraid of any traps you may have. After all, Li Ji knows the surrounding geography well. It's impossible for a natural barrier to suddenly appear, isolating him from Li Yuanzhong's troops and making it impossible to help them—unless they dig a trench to divert the Huangshui River. But the Huangshui River is in its dry season, and the water volume is not abundant. Even the main stream can be forded. Can creating a tributary really stop the army?

If you could really dig such a wide and deep trench, would I be stupid enough to see it and not retreat, but instead insist on forging my way through? (Like a horse leaping over the Tanxi River?)

As for ambushes, the terrain is narrow, how many people can be ambushed in the valley? Can a few hundred or a thousand soldiers cooperate with the main force to surround us and make Li Yuanzhong unable or unwilling to come to our aid? That's just a pipe dream.

Therefore, upon hearing that Li Yuanzhong was approaching, Li Ji had no more concerns and charged into the enemy ranks with his spear. Although the enemy army was elite, their morale had been shattered. The longer the two sides faced off, the more confident Li Ji became, while the enemy became more and more apprehensive. They were easily defeated in one charge, with dozens of corpses lying on the ground in an instant, and the rest fleeing in terror.

Li Ji took the lead, cutting through the enemy ranks and rushing across the valley entrance. He looked ahead and saw nothing but emptiness; not a soul in sight.

The main force of the barbarian army, which was covering the rear, had already fled far away.

Upon hearing that the ambush troops had emerged without orders, Ma Chongying knew something was amiss. His ingenious plan to use himself as bait to kill Li Erlang had ultimately failed... But was Li Erlang truly that astute? If this man possessed both courage and wisdom, he would surely be a formidable enemy of Tibet!

He immediately ordered a turnaround and retreat.

He actually had ample time to recall the five hundred ambush troops before the Tang reinforcements arrived, but he feared Li Ji would pursue them relentlessly, making escape difficult. Therefore, he was forced to grit his teeth and make a painful but necessary decision, only informing the ambush troops in Huangbei to retreat westward...

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Chapter Twenty-Six: The Mind of Fooling the People

The Tang army pursued the retreating Tibetan army, advancing twenty li westward, beheading hundreds and capturing a small amount of supplies, enough to make up for the losses of the past few days. The army returned at dusk, with Li Yuanzhong and Li Ji riding side-by-side, their armor gleaming in the sun and their banners reaching the clouds, entering the west gate of Shancheng with an air of arrogance.

The people of Shancheng came out in unison, bowing along the roadside and shouting "Victory!" to welcome their victorious soldiers.

—Because although none of Li Yuanzhong's troops were from Shancheng, they were all from Guanzhong, and half of them were recruited locally in Shanzhou. As for the thousand Shence Army generals, they had long since removed their helmets or leather hats and put on their proud red forehead turbans to show that they were not Uyghurs.

Li Ji puffed out his chest, beaming with pride, and looked around as he waved to the people. The people's eyes were filled with joy and respect, and their gazes upon him made him feel incredibly comfortable, almost as if he were floating on air.

There is no greater joy in life than this.

Li Ji seemed to recall hearing a saying from a past life: "The greatest joy in life is to defeat the enemy, chase them away, seize all their possessions, see their loved ones weeping, ride their horse again, and take their beautiful wives and daughters..." Li Ji thought to himself, "That's complete nonsense." To be able to feel happy while the enemy's fearful and hateful gaze falls upon him—this guy must be a sadistic psychopath.

He planned to revise this sentence to: "The greatest joy in life is to defeat the enemy, drive them away, and recover all their captives, and then see my compatriots rejoicing at being freed from the scourge of war, weeping with joy, and regarding me as a hero, or even a savior!" Violence is for fighting violence, not for indulging in greed; only grateful glances and songs of praise can make a soldier truly appreciate his own value.

The followers behind me, and those lying in ambush on the street, are all my kin. Although Tibet will be completely integrated into the Chinese nation thousands of years from now, in this era, they are still enemies—even the Uyghurs might become enemies one day.

In the 8th century AD, when national consciousness was still developing and quite primitive, only China could unite the world's largest population by relying on a shared language, a common script, a profound cultural heritage, and a nominally unified central government. Even though his ancestral home was in Liaodong, his birthplace was Jingzhao, and he was born in Weizhou, he naturally became comrades with the Guanzhong generals around him; and these Shence soldiers from Taozhou were regarded as their own sons and daughters by the people of Shanzhou, and those cheering in the streets were also their own elders.

As comrades, how can we not work together with one heart and one mind, fighting side by side? As elders, how can we not kill the thieves and drive out the bandits, protecting their safety?

A casual glance caught sight of the old man who had stopped his horse and pleaded with him when he first arrived in Shancheng. Li Ji spurred his horse to the side, approached him, and asked, "Old sir, do you still remember me?"

The old man quickly clasped his hands and said, "Of course I remember. I heard that Inspector Li charged into battle, personally killing several barbarian chieftains and countless barbarian bandits, thus ensuring the safety of my Shancheng. All the people of the city are grateful for Inspector Li's great kindness and virtue. My whole family will hold a festival to worship Inspector Li and wish him a long life and many descendants!"

Li Ji laughed loudly and said, "What can I accomplish by myself? It's all thanks to General Li... that the commander-in-chief made good arrangements, and that Generals Guo and Li commanded effectively. All the soldiers were willing to fight to the death, and the people of Shancheng refused to surrender to the enemy. That's how we achieved a great victory. You saved your own lives. We only contributed a little to help."

Li Yuanzhong, who was listening nearby, couldn't help but stroke his beard and smile: "It's rare to see Changwei win without becoming arrogant, truly rare."

Li Ji laughed and said, "I am the vanguard, and the general is the commander-in-chief. How can we win a battle by relying solely on the vanguard? What is there to be proud of?"

He was actually quite pleased and proud, but he also repeatedly reminded himself that pride should not be excessive; if it turned into arrogance, he would be finished. Moreover, after joining the army and going to the battlefield, he especially realized that the army is a complete collective, and no part can be missing. If he lost the morale of the troops because of pride, he would sooner or later die on the battlefield.

He was very adept at commanding Chen Fu, Yi Tiechui, and their Shence Army; if it were a weaker force, he would most likely not have won the battle—let alone disguising himself as Uyghur cavalry, even if the Uyghur cavalry really came to his aid in large numbers, Li Ji would not be able to command them, and even if he won, it would not be his achievement.

Meanwhile, Guo Xin had returned to the city earlier and had already prepared a celebratory banquet. He welcomed Li Yuanzhong and others in front of the county government office and they went inside to drink. More than twenty generals who had participated in the campaign, including Li Yuanzhong, Li Ji, and Hu Hao, gathered together in one hall.

Generals Guo and Li sat side by side at the head of the table, flanked by Li Ji and Hu Hao, followed by Chen Fu, Yi Tiechui, Di De, and others. Guo and Li were both fifth-rank military officers, Hu Hao was a sixth-rank officer, and the rest were all seventh-rank or below—of course, Di De was a guest general and had no rank for the time being; among the civil officials present was only Li Ji, who, although an eighth-rank officer, naturally had to be ranked alongside Hu Hao.

Within the army, the hierarchy among officers and soldiers was strictly enforced, even surpassing that of the imperial court in some respects. However, since it was a banquet, there was no need to adhere to any rules. As the drinking progressed, some rose to dance, some put their arms around each other's shoulders, and some even urged or forced others to drink. While it wasn't exactly an act of utter disgrace, it was certainly difficult to distinguish between superiors and inferiors. The main reason was that everyone's rank was not far apart. It is estimated that if high-ranking officials like Guo Ziyi or Li Guangbi had arrived, the officers and soldiers would have been trembling with fear and would not have dared to act recklessly even at the banquet.

Hu Hao was the most active and quick-witted. From Guo Xin and Li Yuanzhong down, he urged everyone to drink at every gathering, and no one was left out. He could often recount the other person's achievements on the battlefield, showering them with praise, making the generals beam with joy and feel embarrassed to refuse his toast. However, Hu Hao himself drank very little, even using the excuse of being unable to hold his liquor to offer an empty cup as a toast, which those who were toasted could not refuse to drink—this kind of social skill was something Li Ji had never seen before since arriving in this world.

Brother Hu, you shouldn't have joined the army; you should have gone into public relations...

After several rounds of toasts, he returned to the chief toast. However, facing Guo Xin and Li Yuanzhong, Hu Hao dared not offer them a toast with an empty cup. Instead, he poured half a cup of wine, bowed deeply, and said, "I am deeply grateful to the two generals for saving my Shancheng. Your kindness is as high as the sky and as deep as the sea. On behalf of the elders of the city, I would like to offer another toast to the two generals."

Li Ji was also slightly tipsy—because his contributions were the greatest and his deeds the most outstanding, so not only Hu Hao came to toast him, but he also accepted all the toasts—hearing this, he couldn't help but frown, huh?

Hu Hao's words implied that he was the lord of Shancheng, and we were merely guest generals...

So he stood up, holding his wine cup, and said with a forced smile, "General Hu, your words are inappropriate. The grace of Heaven comes from the Sage, and the favor of the sea is due to the Commander-in-Chief. We are merely following orders and fulfilling our duties. The wine offered by the elders of the city should be offered to Heaven and the court. General Hu, you should find your own explanation for offering this toast."

Hu Hao was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, then squinted his small eyes and nodded, saying, "I misspoke while drunk, Inspector Li's reprimand is justified..." But his next action was something none of the other members of the guild had anticipated—

Hu Hao faced Guo Xin and Li Yuanzhong and knelt down with a thud.

People in the Tang Dynasty still customarily sat on the floor. Although furniture like the folding chair, which allowed people to sit with their legs hanging down, had been introduced, it was not common. However, in non-important or formal occasions—such as banquets today—it was not necessary to strictly follow etiquette and kneel; sitting cross-legged was sufficient. Even if one was kneeling, it was not necessary to kneel again when rising to offer a toast, as the customs of the Sui and Tang Dynasties differed greatly from those of the Wei and Jin Dynasties and earlier.

Therefore, Hu Hao's kneeling was both excessively formal and unusually unusual, leaving everyone stunned and the clamor in the hall momentarily silenced. Generals Guo and Li hurriedly rose and extended their hands to help him up, asking, "What is the meaning of this, Lord Hu?"

Hu Hao raised his wine cup high, tears welling in his eyes. He deliberately tilted his head back so that everyone could see his expression. "I am not speaking for myself, but on behalf of all the people of Shancheng, I offer this cup to the two generals. First, to thank you for driving out the barbarian invaders and saving Shancheng. Second... I earnestly request that you stay in Shancheng and not leave!"

Upon hearing this, Guo and Li exchanged bewildered glances.

Abandoning Shancheng was originally the shogunate's plan. The original plan was for Guo Xin to hold out for three months, and regardless of whether the barbarian bandits retreated voluntarily, the soldiers and civilians of Shancheng would be relocated, and the defensive line would be contracted to the east of Xiaoxia. This was because after most of the border towns had fallen, Shancheng's geographical advantages were not conducive to defense, and the barbarian bandits could invade again at any time. The land outside the city was difficult to cultivate, which also made Shancheng an economic liability.

When Li Ji advised Li Tan to defend Shancheng, his main consideration was political: first, abandoning the city so soon after arriving in Longyou would be difficult to explain to the court; second, retreating without a fight would make the Tibetans look down on the Tang Dynasty even more and damage the morale of the army and people in Longyou, which would be detrimental to future battles. Therefore, the sooner we arrived and the more unstable our position, the more we must defend Shancheng to the death and fight a desperate battle to determine our future strategy.

Less than three months later, the Tibetan army has already retreated, and after suffering repeated setbacks, they were forced to withdraw. This was an unexpectedly good outcome for both Li Tan and Guo Xin. There's no time for excessive joy; it's time to pack up and abandon the garrison.

In fact, before the banquet, Li Ji and his men had returned to the city, Guo Xin had already consulted Hu Hao about this matter—how to persuade the city's residents to retreat with our army?

Unexpectedly, in the midst of their drinking, Hu Hao brazenly proposed that the soldiers and civilians of the entire city "earnestly request that the general remain stationed in Shancheng and not go there." What does this mean? It means he doesn't want to withdraw!

Seeing that Generals Guo and Li were at a loss, Li Ji asked, "General Hu, is what you said truly the opinion of the elders of Shancheng, or is it your own wish?"

Li Ji's identity was unique; he was both a civil servant and a confidant of Li Tan, which was why he dared to directly question Hu Hao, whose rank was much higher than his own—after all, when they first met, Hu Hao hadn't dared to act arrogantly in front of him.

Before Hu Hao could answer, Li Ji turned to Guo Xin and Li Yuanzhong, cupped his hands, and said, "This humble general was ordered to come to Shancheng to survey the terrain and inspect the garrison. Some of the elders in the city stopped my horse and wept, clearly unwilling to abandon the city. However, after the great battle, I believe their feelings will be different..."

It's normal for ordinary people to be attached to their land, but the old man's insistence that he'd rather die with the barbarian invaders than abandon his ancestral graves, and his subsequent reprimand by Li Ji, was largely due to the fact that the barbarian army hadn't yet arrived. People always harbor a sense of wishful thinking; what if the barbarian invaders didn't come, but we obeyed orders and abandoned our land, houses, and possessions? Where would we find a remedy for our regret then?