A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1290: Long Spear Invades the Sky, Half-Circle Sword Shines in the Sunlight
The third day of the third month in the seventeenth year of Zhenguan.

Su Dingfang, the governor of Yingzhou and the protector of Andong, led the troops of Youzhou and Yingzhou, as well as the allied troops of Khitan, Xi and Mohe tribes, and took the lead in launching an attack on Goguryeo.

On the 12th, the emperor went to the Luoyang Palace.

Liu Ji, the Palace Attendant, was appointed as the Palace Attendant, and Cen Wenben, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, was appointed as the Secretary of the Central Secretariat.
Li Ji and Ma Zhou were appointed as the general commanders of Liaodong Road, Wu Huaiyi as the deputy general commander, and they led 16 general commanders to attack Goguryeo. Li Daozong was appointed as the general commander of Pyongyang Road, Wu Heita, Zuo Nandang, and Zhishisili as the deputy general commanders, and they led 8 general commanders to attack Goguryeo.

On the 17th,
Crown Prince Li Chengqian went to Dingzhou, Hebei, to stay and govern the country. The emperor gave food and cloth to the elderly widows and widowers wherever the crown prince went, and also conferred the title of Grand Tutor on Bigan, a famous minister of the Shang Dynasty, and posthumously named him Zhonglie.

On the 20th, Zhangsun Wuji was appointed as the acting Shizhong, and Yang Shidao was appointed as the acting Zhongshu Ling.

The sixth day of April.

The emperor arrived in Youzhou, held an oath-taking ceremony, and lavishly rewarded his soldiers.

On the tenth day, the emperor arrived at Yuguan.

At night, Zhongshu Ling Cen Wenben was critically ill.

Yuguan is not far from the later famous Shanhaiguan. At that time, it was an important frontier town built in front of Jieshi Mountain. The pass was built on the dangerous mountain, and the mountain added to the majesty of the pass.

The Jieshi Mountain is dozens of miles in radius, with peaks and undulating peaks. Yumen Pass was built in front of this mountain, and in front of the city gate is the Yu River.

Wu Huaiyu stayed overnight at Yuguan.
It was a night in early April, neither too hot nor too cold, and he was chatting with an old official guarding the city.

The old official had white hair and beard, and had lost several teeth. He had no children, so he stayed in the city.

"In the first year of Kaihuang in the previous dynasty, the Turks joined forces with Yingzhou Governor Gao Baoning to rebel, and Shaboluo Khan joined forces with him to capture Linyu Town. Later, in the eighteenth year of Kaihuang, Goguryeo King Gao Yuan led more than 10,000 Mohe cavalry to attack Liaoxi. Yingzhou General Wei Chongchong drove them away.
Emperor Wen of Sui was furious when he heard about this, and he appointed Yang Liang, the Prince of Han, as the commander-in-chief, with 300,000 troops by land and sea to fight against the enemy.

Speaking of these past events, the old official spoke of them in a leisurely manner, because they were all things he had experienced personally, "The food supply was not continuous, the six armies were short of food, the army was out of the Yuguan Pass, and encountered an epidemic, the royal army was weak, and when they crossed the Liao River, eight or nine out of ten soldiers died, and the sea route encountered a flood, and the fleet sank..."

When talking about the Sui Dynasty's conquest of Liaodong, people think of Yang Guang's three conquests of Goguryeo.

In fact, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian, had sent 300,000 troops to conquer Liaodong. Unfortunately, before they could even engage in direct combat, the 300,000-man army was almost wiped out due to epidemics, storms at sea, heavy rains, mountain torrents, flooding of the Liaoze Lake, and lack of food and grass.
A very unsuccessful Eastern Expedition.

"The most difficult thing about conquering Liaodong is not that the Goguryeo people have many mountain fortresses, which are very dangerous, but the Liaoze Lake, which is a thousand miles from north to south and two hundred miles from east to west."

In later generations, the Liaoxi Corridor was actually a large tidal flat during the Sui and Tang dynasties. It was flooded during high tide and became a tidal flat after low tide. Lightly armed troops could barely pass through, but it was difficult for heavily armed troops and food and equipment, especially when encountering heavy rains, mountain torrents, etc.

Daliaoze is an undeveloped no-man's land.

From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the highway from the Central Plains to Liaodong could only reach Jieshi.

After leaving Yuguan, follow the Daling River Valley through Jianchang and Chaoyang and then turn east to Liaodong City. This route is not near the sea and goes through a mountain valley. The transportation on this route is difficult and the road is long.

To transport a load of food, three laborers had to take turns to deliver it to the Liaodong front line.

Huaiyu was filled with sadness when she heard the old official talk about the miserable conditions of the laborers who had to transport grain in those days.

"General, someone has come from Linyu Palace." Xue Rengui came in to report.

Linyu Palace was built when Yang Guang personally conquered Goguryeo. When the Tang Dynasty was first established, Linyu County, which was established at the site of Linyu Palace, was used as the seat of Pingzhou.

In the seventh year of Wude, Linyu County was renamed Shicheng County.

The emperor will stay in the Linyu Palace tonight.

He was a little surprised by this sudden summons in the middle of the night, so he said goodbye to the old official and hurried to the palace.

Xue Rengui, accompanied by a hundred guards, rode on horseback and held spears, and dutifully escorted him to the palace.

"I'm afraid Jingren is going to die,"

When Li Shimin saw Wu Huaiyu, his face was filled with sadness.

Jingren is the courtesy name of Prime Minister Cen Wenben. Like Ma Zhou, he is also the emperor's chief secretary and has always been in charge of confidential information. He has been a prime minister for several years. Before this expedition, he was formally appointed as the Minister of the Central Secretariat.

The emperor led the army to the battlefield in person and entrusted him with many affairs of the base camp. Compared with Wu Huaiyu, who was a hands-off prime minister, Cen Wenben could be said to be busy day and night.

Cen Wenben was still busy tonight, but suddenly he fainted on the ground.

Wu Huaiyu hurried to check.

The imperial physician was already treating him.
"Cen Xiang had a stroke,"

Wu Huaiyu checked and got the same result. Cen Wenben must have had a cerebral hemorrhage. He was still unconscious and probably had a lot of bleeding.

very dangerous.

Even if the bleeding is stopped now, the subsequent edema will be more dangerous.

Moreover, the imperial doctors are helpless in the current situation. Cen Wenben’s condition cannot even be stopped from bleeding.

The emperor held Cen Wenben's hand and called his name softly, but Cen Wenben did not respond.

"The text accompanies me, but cannot die with me," Li Shimin said, shedding tears.

After a consultation,
Wu Huaiyu and the imperial doctors could only shake their heads and sigh to the emperor.

"Is there no solution at all? What kind of medicine do you need? Ganoderma lucidum, ginseng or something else? Do you want my beard as a guide? I'll cut it all off."

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Cen's time has come."

In less than a cup of tea, Cen Wenben stopped breathing and never woke up again. The king and his ministers didn't even have time to say goodbye.

"He's only fifty,"

Li Shimin held Cen Wenben's gradually cold hand and was reluctant to let go. "In the first year of Zhenguan, Wenben was appointed as Secretary Lang. Later, he was recommended by the pharmacist to be Zhongshu Sheren. In the Wude period, the manuscripts of imperial edicts and military and national affairs were all written by Zhongshu Shilang Yan Sigu. However, Wenben's talent and wisdom far surpassed him. In the seventh year of Zhenguan, after Yan Sigu was transferred to the position of Secretary Shaojian, Wenben was promoted to Zhongshu Shilang, in charge of confidential information and drafting imperial edicts..."

Wu Huaiyu was also feeling a little emotional. Cen Wenben and Ma Zhou were both known as the emperor's great writers and both were imperial pens, but Cen Wenben was more low-key than Ma Zhou.

Although he held a high position and received a generous salary, he always considered himself to be just a scholar. He was well-known for his filial piety in serving his elderly mother and for his sincerity in raising his brothers and nephews.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Cen, your writings are as profound as the seas and your loyalty is as strong as the snow and frost. You have redressed the injustice of your father and helped the wise ruler."

After being persuaded by Wu Huaiyu and others, the emperor finally let go of Cen Wenben's cold hand.

"He was given the title of Shizhong, Governor of Guangzhou, Duke of Deng, and posthumously named Xian, and buried in Zhaoling Mausoleum."

The emperor also issued an edict, allowing Cen Wenben's eldest son Cen Manqian to inherit the title, and his second son Jingqian to be granted the title of Jiangling County Master, and his nephew Cen Changqian, who was raised by Cen Wenben, to be selected to study in Chongxian Hall.

He died before leaving the army.

Before the troops left Yuguan Pass, a prime minister was killed.
This is bound to damage morale.
But the emperor's steps will not stop there.

But just after leaving Yuguan,
Yan Sigu, the Secretary General and scholar of the Hongwen and Chongxian Academy, died of illness in the army. This old boss of Cen Wenben and Li Yuan's former imperial penman died at the age of 65.

This minister, who had served as the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, the Secretary General, etc., was granted the title of Male of Langya County and was also an important official with a purple gold rank. Although he was Gaozu's confidant and was unable to enter the central decision-making level during the Zhenguan period, his qualifications and official rank made him a minister among the officials accompanying the emperor. He was also the grandson of the famous Confucian Yan Zhitui, and was known as Xiao Yan.

As a result, he also died of illness the day after Cen Wenben died of illness.

During the march, two ministers died of illness at once, and the army was talking about it. Some people thought it was a bad omen.
There was a solar eclipse.

At noon, it suddenly became dark, like night.

This caused even greater panic among the army, and various rumors began to spread among the army.

Although the eclipse did not last long,
But the army's morale was wavering and the emperor's face was gloomy.

Just after arriving at Yu Pass, Prime Minister Cen Benwen died suddenly of a stroke. As soon as they passed Yu Pass, Minister Yan Sigu also died of illness.

Then there was another solar eclipse today.

For three consecutive days, there were bad omens.

But the emperor was determined and put Li Jing in charge of enforcing military discipline. Li Jing was ruthless and arrested many soldiers who spread rumors that day.
Although many people did not intend to undermine the morale of the army, their actions seriously violated military law.

Xue Rengui, Wang Fangyi and their attendant Wu Huaiyu were standing behind him, watching Li Jing shout "behead" with a serious face.

A row of soldiers was pushed in front of the three armies.

With an order, heads fell to the ground one after another.

Blood splattered,

These people died with their eyes wide open. They never thought that they would not die on the battlefield in Liaodong, but would fall here, dying under the knife of military law.

Xue Rengui and several young men were all staring at this scene in amazement. They were full of enthusiasm and had signed up actively, but they had never expected that military law would be so ruthless.

"Can't you give them a chance to redeem themselves?" he whispered.

Wu Huaiyu glanced at him and said, "Didn't you read the Duke of Wei's Art of War that I gave you before? Seventeen prohibitions and fifty-four beheadings, is that a joke?"

“But they are full of passion...”

"So it is said that military law is ruthless. Once you join the army, you must strictly abide by military discipline. If a country has no discipline, it will fall. If the people have no discipline, they will be in chaos. If the army has no discipline, it will be conquered. The upper military is governed by discipline, and the lower military is governed by law. Therefore, the importance of military law is that discipline is the key."

Although it was a pity for those young soldiers,

But military discipline on the battlefield must never be violated.

Especially things like this that shake the morale of the army. When two armies are facing each other, soldiers who stand by and watch will be punished, let alone this situation.

After Li Jing executed a group of soldiers by military law with lightning speed,

As expected, no one dared to make any comments or speak nonsense.

The royal carriage continued to move forward.

On April 26, the imperial carriage arrived in Yingzhou and good news came from the front line.

Li Ji and Ma Zhou, the military commanders-in-chief of Liaodong Road, and Wu Huaiyi, the deputy commander-in-chief, sent people to announce the victory and captured Gaimu City, an important town in Liaodong.

This victory was not easy, but the Tang army took full control of the initiative.

First, the Youying troops led by Su Dingfang and the Xiqi assisted in the attack and fighting in the Liaohe River area, destroying the villages and markets of the Goguryeo people on the border, looting the grass and grain, and plundering the people. They divided their troops into many groups and attacked everywhere.

The Goguryeo people were forced into panic and fled to the rear of the Liaodong Great Wall, which they had spent 16 years building.

Su Dingfang and his men were moving towards Huaiyuan Town, making it look like the Tang army was about to cross the Liaohe River eastward from Huaiyuan Town.

This forced the Goguryeo people to gather troops in large numbers towards Huaiyuan Town. After successfully mobilizing the main force of the Goguryeo people,

Li Ji also arrived from Yingzhou at this time. He suddenly turned back to the north west of Huaiyuan Town, and advanced northward along the corridor built by Yang Guang during the Liao Dynasty. He arrived at Tongding Town, turned around again, rushed eastward across the Liao River, and attacked Goguryeo's Great Wall defense line head-on. He successfully broke through the defense line with firearms.
On the first day of April, the troops attacked Xuantu City.

Xuantu City is far to the north of Liaodong City.

The Goguryeo people gathered their troops to defend Huaiyuan Town, but Li Ji led the main force to Tongding City and crossed the river.

After receiving the alarm from Xuantu City, the Goguryeo army immediately rushed north again.

As soon as the Goguryeo troops moved,
Wu Huaiyi, the deputy commander of the Pyongyang Road Army, who had been deployed in advance to the west of Huaiyuan Town, went out. He immediately crossed the Liao River from Huaiyuan Town, took advantage of the weak defense, detoured from behind Xuantu City, headed north, and attacked another important town, Xincheng.

The Goguryeo commander was completely stunned.

Su Dingfang was making a feint attack, Li Ji was also making a feint attack, and Wu Huaiyi was the main attacker?
The Goguryeo people then hurried to reinforce Xincheng and defend against Wu Huaiyi.

But the Goguryeo people were disappointed again.

Because Li Ji and Wu Huaiyi's real target was not Xincheng,
The two armies met at the foot of Gaimu City and joined forces to attack Gaimu City. The Goguryeo army hurriedly rushed towards Gaimu City again.

But just when they thought they had finally figured out the real purpose of the Tang army and were rushing to Gaimu City to reinforce and prepare for a decisive battle,
Su Dingfang's Youying Corps, which had been attacking Caogu before, turned around and marched from Liaoze, crossed the Liaohe River in the lower reaches, and quickly broke through the southern Great Wall defense line.

Head straight to Jian'an City.
Li Daozon, the commander-in-chief of the Pyongyang Road in Beisha City in southern Liaoning, did not go to Pyongyang or the Yalu River. He left the two of them, Wu Heita and Zuo Nandang, and he and Zhishishili led the troops of the Jian'an Military Governor's Office.
Suddenly he marched north and joined forces with Su Dingfang at the foot of Jian'an City.

The Goguryeo people were confused again.

Xincheng was not the real target of the Tang army. It turned out that Su Dingfang was the main attacker. They wanted to capture Jian'an City. The Goguryeo commander quickly sent troops to reinforce Jian'an City.

April 26th.

The Goguryeo people originally thought that Li Ji and Wu Huaiyi's army was making a feint attack, but they did not retreat as they did before in Xuantu City and Xincheng.

in contrast,

They launched a fierce attack, although they did not carry siege cannons that could launch 300-jin stone bullets.
However, he still used firearms to open the eyes of the defenders of Goguryeo's Gaimu City.

From the meeting at the foot of the city on April 15th to the capture of Gaimu City on April 26th, the Tang army

All in all, it only took ten days.

Gaimu City is located at the foot of Qiantai Mountain south of Hunhe River in Fushun. It dominates the Hunhe Plain, rising from the ground, overlooking the Hunhe Valley to the north, bordering the plains to the west and the mountains to the east. It is a place that military strategists must fight for.

Such a mountain city is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

As long as they hold the city, the food in the city can supply them for a year. If the Tang army fails to capture the city within half a year, when the weather turns cold, these Tang troops will no longer be able to hold on. Once the Tang army retreats, they can pursue and kill them.

But this time they calculated wrongly.

The Tang army did not have heavy artillery or catapults, but they did have magical firearms.
In just ten days, the Tang army captured Gaimu City, captured more than 20,000 men and women in the city, and seized more than 100,000 shi of grain.

When Li Ji and Wu Huaiyi from the north captured Gaimu City,
Su Dingfang and Li Daozon in the south also took advantage of the opportunity and quickly captured the big city of Jian'an.

For a time, both the north and the south were flourishing, and good news was delivered to the emperor in Yingzhou one after another.

The emperor, who received the good news, danced with joy, and a smile finally appeared on his face, which had been gloomy for days.

"Order the entire army to speed up and advance. Before the tenth day of May, the entire army must cross the Daliaoze and reach the city of Liaodong!"

(End of this chapter)