Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Chapter 41 The First Major Casualties

Li Yuanji led the army to continue southward, crossed the Xunjiang River from Pingnan, and went to Xiuzhou via Suijian. On the way, they encountered attacks again. As long as they did not have any weapons, Li Yuanji did not hurt these people.

After controlling these people, Yang Shu led people to do ideological work on them. Some of them were convinced, while others were not. But Li Yuanji released them all. However, if they continued to come, Li Yuanji would not be polite to them.

After passing Sui Jian and entering the territory of Xiuzhou, there was no more attack. Xiuzhou governor Yang Huaizhen wanted to invite Li Yuanji to go to Changlin in Xiaolin, but was rejected by Li Yuanji. Finally, Yang Huaizhen left two thousand troops and some money, food and supplies and returned to Changlin. Li Yuanji went south to the eastern part of Xiuzhou, preparing to enter Rongzhou.

"Xuan Ce, although I don't know what Yang Huaizhen is thinking, I really appreciate his approach."

Li Yuanji really admired it. He had been attacked and on the way to being attacked all the way. Suddenly someone showed kindness to him. Li Yuanji felt it was not easy.

Li Yuanji knew very well that such people were not really close to him. They were just people who did not participate in these things and were neutral.

Wang Xuance also laughed.

"Your Majesty, Yang Huai really knows how to behave. If Your Majesty wins this fight, today is a token of friendship. If Your Majesty loses, he will only lose two thousand men and these twenty carts of supplies. He is really thoughtful."

Li Yuanji didn't care about what Wang Xuance said. Such people are actually not bad. As long as he has the ability, such people will stand firmly on his side. Compared with those who cause trouble, aren't they much stronger?

Then Li Yuanji changed the subject.

"We are about to enter Rongzhou, which is Tan Dian's territory. How do you think he will welcome us?

Wasn't he fighting Ning Chun before? He must have led his army to Rongzhou now."

Wang Xuance put away his smile and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, if Tan Dian surrenders, it is best not to kill him. He has a high status among the surrounding Li Liao people. As long as Tan Dian can be subdued, at least these Li Liao people will not resist too much.

The reason why Chen Longshu provoked Luo Doudong, a loyal man in Nanfuzhou, to rebel was because he forced them to become Tang citizens and forcibly collected taxes, which caused such a fierce resistance.

Especially the three counties including Fulai, which were under the control of Tan Dian, were all divided over by Chen Longshu. How could Tan Dian agree to this?

In this case, Tan Dian's power was originally lower than Feng Ang's. He could be said to be the second most powerful person in Lingnan. I think such a person would not do anything too extreme if he was not absolutely sure."

After listening to Wang Xuance's words, Li Yuanji pondered for a moment before speaking.

"Let's talk about it after we meet Tan Dian. If he is really stupid, even though he has a deep influence on the Li Liao people, I will have no choice but to help him."

Just as Li Yuanji was moving forward, at the border of Xiuzhou and Rongzhou, two thousand thieves, all wearing armor and fully armed, were lying in ambush on both sides, waiting for the arrival of their destined person.

While here with Li Yuanji, Wang Xuance was still talking to Li Yuanji about the affairs of Lingnan.

“Your Majesty, you should also win over Chen Longshu of Longzhou. He is from the Longzhou Chen family. Although Chen Longshu’s father, Chen Fozhi, was killed in the battle with Feng Ang, the influence of the Chen family cannot be underestimated.

The establishment of Nanfuzhou was just Chen Longshu's attempt to seize those who were unable to register as residents. In the end, he failed due to Tan Dian's secret sabotage. However, this was just a microcosm of the struggle between Tan Dian, Feng Ang, Chen Longshu, and the Ning and Xian families.

We were attacked by thousands of people before, but only these people were capable of doing that. No one else could do that.

Among them, Chen Longshu is the least likely. The Chen family is weak, and Chen Longshu is the one who supports Tang Dynasty the most and recognizes Tang Dynasty the most. When the king arrives, Chen Longshu will definitely not miss this opportunity.

This time we are going to pass through the border between Nanfuzhou, Yuzhou and Bianzhou. He will definitely lead his army here, so it is impossible for him to send people to ambush the king.

The Ning clan is now a loose group, fighting each other, and no one can do it alone. The Xian clan is even less likely. Whether it is the former Sui Dynasty or the current Tang Dynasty, the Li people in Gaoliang (Gangzhou, Enzhou, Gaozhou, Panzhou, southern Luozhou, etc.) controlled by the Xian clan almost all advocate not to conflict with the Central Plains dynasty.

In particular, Lady Qiaoguo (Lady Xian), who married Feng Ang's grandfather Feng Bao, had quelled many rebellions and her influence once spread to Leizhou, Rongzhou and other places.

Even when the Tang Dynasty was first established, Lady Qiaoguo still advocated submission to the Central Plains dynasty and not to engage in division, making the Gaoliang Li people the most stable and reliable existence.

Now Feng Ang, the grandson of Lady Qiaoguo, controls those places. Although the Xian family is not as powerful as before, their influence is still considerable, with at least 100,000 households, so the Xian family must fight for it.

The only two people who can attack the king are Tan Dian and Feng Ang."

Wang Xuance didn't say anything else, but Li Yuanji knew very well that the person Wang Xuance suspected was Feng Ang, the leader of the largest force in Lingnan today.

But Li Yuanji was also very confused. According to the time he sent letters to various places, Feng Ang had no time to make arrangements. And before that, his marching route had not been announced to the public.

Now, as his understanding deepens, it becomes more difficult for Li Yuanji to determine the mastermind behind the initial ambush.

As for Chen Longshu and Xian mentioned by Wang Xuance, he had some understanding of them, especially Lady Qiaoguo. She was absolutely a true heroine. There were legends about her in later generations. Li Yuanji really admired her.

If Lady Qiaoguo was a man, Lingnan would probably not be as chaotic as it is now, and would be more stable.

Li Yuanji felt a headache thinking about these things. He came to Lingnan to develop and strengthen his own strength. Now, various things have piled up at once. He hasn't even arrived in Leizhou yet, and there is no sign of development yet, but there are already a lot of troubles.

Just as Li Yuanji was thinking, Xie Shufang hurried over.

"Your Majesty, there was a bloody battle in Dingfang's front army. Two thousand well-armed and armored bandits ambushed them. Dingfang led his army to wipe out these people. No one survived. Dozens of people escaped, and more than 1,900 bandits were killed."

Li Yuanji looked at Xie Shufang in disbelief. He thought he had heard wrongly. Bandits with sophisticated weapons and armor? These were bandits? These were regular troops!
Li Yuanji suddenly became extremely solemn. The person who ambushed him was becoming more and more rampant. He wanted to kill him more and more, and he was becoming more and more anxious.

"Come on, take me over there to have a look."

Li Yuanji was very calm, without anger or other emotions, and he was terribly gloomy.

His original intention was to lead the people of Lingnan to get rich together. As long as they were willing to follow him, he would lead these people to live a better life. However, now, he not only wants to develop, but also to conquer.

Li Yuanji came to Su Dingfang. The surviving soldiers were tidying up their comrades who had fallen on the ground. Although there were not many of them, the casualties this time were obviously much greater than before.

Su Dingfang came to Li Yuanji covered in blood.

"Your Majesty, we were ambushed this time. The enemy's weapons were all standard weapons made by the former Sui Dynasty. They were all armored. I led my army to kill more than 1,900 enemies. Our army suffered 351 deaths and 532 injuries."

Listening to Su Dingfang's words, Li Yuanji immediately had a guess in his mind, the standard weapon of the former Sui Dynasty? It's really good.

Li Yuanji was particularly saddened by the casualties of this battle. The troops he brought were all elite troops. He gave all he could, but still suffered nearly a thousand casualties. Although such a casualty ratio under the circumstances of an ambush was already a great victory, Li Yuanji was not happy at all.

"Bury those who died in the battle and erect a monument for each of them. When I pacify Lingnan in the future, I will come and pay tribute to them properly."

(End of this chapter)