Tang Dynasty Swordsman

Page 101

Later, the Tibetan Empire rose to power and invaded the former territory of the Tanguts. Some Tanguts were employed by Tibetan nobles and were called "Miyao" (meaning "medicine-suppressing forces"). Others migrated to Tang territory, and the Tang Dynasty moved twenty-five Tangut prefectures to Qingzhou in the northern part of the capital region. Other Tuyuhun and Western Qiang tribes that were also conquered by the Tibetan Empire, as well as some Turkic tribes that submitted to the Tibetan Empire, were also scattered among the prefectures of Yan, Qing, Shuo, and Yuan.

These non-Han people gradually became an important source of military strength for the northwestern military garrisons of the Tang Dynasty, and produced many famous generals, such as the Hun and Lifei clans.

However, with the outbreak of unrest in Guandong, too many troops were drawn from the northwest region. In addition, the imperial court was short of supplies, so it further extorted the Hu tribes, causing the Qiang and Hu peoples to no longer behave themselves and even pick up their old ways of plundering as nomadic peoples.

At the beginning of this year, the various Dangxiang tribes broke out of Qingzhou, attacking counties and harassing prefectures along the way, seemingly intending to move towards Chang'an. Therefore, the court hastily separated Fuzhou, Fangzhou, Danzhou, and Yanzhou from the Binning military governorship, establishing the Fu-Fang-Dan-Yan military governorship (also known as the Weibei military governorship), appointing Sang Rugui to guard Binning and Du Mian to guard Fufang, and sending troops to attack the Dangxiang. Unfortunately, the results were unsatisfactory. Therefore, several months ago, Guo Ziyi was again appointed to govern Binzhou, hoping to use his prestige to deter the troublemakers.

You know what, this tactic actually worked quite well. When the Tanguts heard that Lord Guo was coming, they immediately fled. But they dared not attack Bin and Fang anymore, so they turned around and headed south from Jingzhou to Fengxiang. Just then, Guo Yin contacted the Turks, Tuyuhun, and Western Qiang tribes within his territory to rebel, and the two sides quickly reached an agreement...

Li Ji thought to himself, "This is madness! A crisis is brewing right under our noses! Instead of expanding and refining the Imperial Guards, you've set up several military districts around the capital, reaching the pinnacle of a 'feint inside, real outside' strategy! If any of these districts collapses, the rebels could reach the gates of Chang'an. And with our mighty, strategic, and far-reaching forces, we can't hold out for more than a few days! Not to mention, if the generals and soldiers in those districts rebel, the emperor could be captured by an outsider at any moment!"

However, under these circumstances, it's not surprising that the scoundrel emperor increasingly distrusts his court officials and generals, not only appointing eunuchs to supervise the troops in each garrison but also intending to allow eunuchs to directly control the imperial guards...

You useless Li Heng, just die already!

On second thought, it was fortunate that Yu Chaoen had stopped Guo Ziyi's northern expedition; it was a lucky accident. If the towns of Binning, Jingyuan, Fufang, and Shuofang had been emptied out, and even some of the imperial guards had been added, then if the Dangxiang and other Hu tribes in Longxi were to cause trouble again, not only would Fengxiang be in danger, but even Chang'an might be in peril...

Following Ban Hong into the Jiedushi's office, Cui Guangyuan sat at the head of the table, with Wei Lun sitting beside him. Li Ji and the others stepped forward to greet him, but Cui Guangyuan waved his hand and said, "You have come a long way and have had a hard time. I was going to host a banquet to entertain you, but Defense Commander Wei said that we should discuss military matters first—so let's postpone the banquet until after sunset."

Li Ji smiled and crossed his hands: "What Defense Commander Wei said makes sense. We should discuss military matters first." It was obvious that Cui Guangyuan was deliberately putting on airs and did not reveal that he had a past relationship with Li Ji, so Li Ji was not in a hurry to get closer to him and turned to Wei Lun first.

Wei Lun also came from a distinguished family, being a direct descendant of the Nanpi branch of the Wei clan of Jingzhao. He was the son of Wei Guangcheng, the Minister of the Imperial Guard, and entered officialdom through family connections, rising step by step from the lowest rank of county magistrate. He was actually not very old, not yet forty, and had a rather sharp and capable appearance. He nodded slightly in return for the greeting, and then went straight to the point, asking Li Ji, "I have long heard of your bravery, Second Brother. Now that you have brought these thousand Weiyuan soldiers, are they of any use?"

Li Ji answered him without hesitation: "It cannot be used."

Wellen was taken aback: "Why can't it be used?"

"The Imperial Guards have been stationed in the capital for a long time and have not fought in battle for several years. Ji is also newly in command and dares not lead them into battle. I hope that I can give them half a month or a month to train them a little, and then they may be useful."

At this point, Li Ji asked in return, "What is the current enemy situation? Have the armies of Fufang and Jingyuan arrived yet?"

Wei Lun shook his head: "Not yet." He paused, then said, "Although the rebels have reached the city walls, they only shout and curse, daring not to launch a hasty attack. They are only looting the countryside, and many people have been killed. If we cannot quickly crush them, I fear that the area between Qin, Long, and Fengxiang will be reduced to scorched earth... There is really no half a month or a month to allow Erlang to slowly train the troops. Besides, if they are not capable to begin with, how can we train them in just ten days or a month?"

Li Ji nodded secretly; this Wei Lun was indeed knowledgeable about military affairs. He then asked, "How many bandits are there? And how many soldiers are currently garrisoning the city?"

"The barbarian bandits number in the dozens, perhaps close to 100,000, while the soldiers and officers within the city number no more than 10,000..."

Wang Bo, sitting at the lower end, was shocked to hear this and turned pale with fright. "Damn it, even if the armies of Fufang and Jingyuan come together, the total number is only over 20,000. How can we fight against an enemy force that is more than five times larger?"

Li Ji and Li Sheng, however, remained unfazed. Both had fought against the Hu peoples (including the Tibetans) and knew that none of the surrounding countries or ethnic groups possessed weapons as superior as the Tang army. In terms of organization and training, they were far inferior. If there were unified command, perhaps the two Hu tribes could rival a Tang army—and that would only be if they weren't the Tang's elite forces. Now, with the various tribes united, Cui Guangyuan and Wei Lun's memorials only mentioned Guo Yin's name, not any Hu commander, suggesting they were still largely disorganized.

Guo Yin was ultimately just a minor local official and a local tyrant in the Qin and Long regions, with no far-reaching reputation. How could he possibly control the many Hu tribes from different ethnic groups in Jing, Ning, Qing and other prefectures?

Otherwise, even if the 100,000 barbarian bandits weren't skilled at siege warfare, they would have already bypassed Fengxiang and marched eastward. Moreover, the Dangxiang Qiang were the main force among them, which would easily number 30,000 to 40,000. If they had 30,000 to 40,000 strong troops, would they be so easily intimidated by Guo Ziyi's reputation?

Li Ji then thought for a moment and asked Wei Lun again, "Is the leader of the invading Dangxiang clan the Tuoba clan?"

Wei Lun shook his head and said, "Tuoba Chaoguang doesn't seem to be in the chaos of battle. I only see the banners of the six families: Xi Feng, Fei Ting, Wang Li, Po Chao, Ye Li, and Mi Qin."

On the way to the audience, Ban Hong gave Li Ji and the others a detailed introduction. The Dangxiang Qiang consisted of eight tribes, with the Tuoba clan being the strongest. The current leader of the Tuoba clan was named Tuoba Chaoguang, who was quite famous among the various Hu tribes. Upon hearing that the Tuoba clan was very likely not involved in this rebellion, Li Ji felt even more reassured.

His only concern was that a capable and prestigious leader might emerge from among the Hu tribes, like Li Te, Liu Yuan, or Fu Hong at the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, who might take advantage of the chaos in the Central Plains to establish their own independent regimes. Although the rebels weren't in a hurry to attack the cities, they were likely focused on unifying the various tribes. If they weren't eliminated soon, they might grow too powerful and eventually cause a major disaster. Since the most powerful Dangxiang tribe had only rebelled in six areas, and it seemed the strongest Tuoba tribe wasn't among them, and Tuoba Chaoguang wasn't among the rebels, the war could be delayed a little longer without consequence.

He really dared not easily send those thousand Weiyuan soldiers into the battlefield!

Therefore, he said, "It is getting late. Let's wait until tomorrow morning. I will climb the city wall to observe the enemy's strength. As for defeating the enemy, we must wait until the armies of Fufang and Jingyuan arrive before we can discuss it."

There are over ten thousand Tang soldiers in the city. If their morale were high and their energy full, theoretically they should be able to crush the tens of thousands facing them head-on—weren't they sent to plunder the surrounding villages? The number of soldiers actually defending the city certainly doesn't exceed one hundred thousand, and even that number is probably inflated—the barbarian bandits don't need the Weiyuan Army's reinforcements at all. The fact that they can only hold their ground now is mostly due to the low morale caused by the previous setbacks in Weiren's attack.

In that situation, even if the elite troops of the Weiyuan Army were brave enough to fight, their numbers were too small to be of much use, and they would have to wait for the arrival of the 10,000 foreign reinforcements.

Observing Li Ji's expression, Wei Lun judged that Li Ji was not making excuses out of fear of the enemy, and nodded in agreement. Seeing that they had finished their discussion, Cui Guangyuan ordered a banquet to be prepared, with a hundred delicacies laid out before them. Li Ji really wanted to question him directly: "Is the grain and provisions in Fengxiang truly so abundant?!" This banquet alone cost no less than five or six thousand coins. If your purse is so full, you should send some money, grain, and supplies to Chang'an to replenish the eastern front!

Considering his past relationship with Cui Guangyuan and his desire for the other man's maid, he forced himself to swallow the question that was about to come out of his throat.

As expected, after the banquet ended and everyone went to rest, Cui Guangyuan secretly sent someone to summon Li Ji to his side again. With a bitter face, he pleaded, "I am unlucky and have encountered this calamity. Commander, you must, please lend me a helping hand!"

Li Ji replied, "My purpose in coming west this time is naturally to share Lord Cui's burdens. However, my official rank is low and my authority is limited, my troops are few and ineffective..."

Cui Guangyuan hurriedly said, "Changwei once defended against the barbarians in Longyou, and his bravery is known throughout the world. My mind is in turmoil, and the only person I trust is Changwei! When the troops from Fufang and Jingyuan arrive, I will appoint Changwei as the military governor to lead the army out of the city and defeat the enemy. I hope Changwei will not refuse."

Li Ji frowned slightly and asked in return, "I think Defense Commander Wei is also a good general. Why doesn't Lord Cui place his hopes on him?"

Cui Guangyuan shook his head with a wry smile: "He already lost a game the day before yesterday, so I dare not place too much hope on him..."

Chapter 48, Shooting Thieves from the City Wall

Cui Guangyuan had long ago made contact with Li Ji because he wanted to curry favor with Li Yu. Although they had only met a few times, they had already established some rapport. Therefore, he hoped that Li Ji could help him share the burden and repel the rebels outside the city.

Taking the opportunity, Li Ji asked, "I wonder if Cui Qi has come to Fengxiang with Lord Cui?"

Upon hearing this, Cui Guangyuan narrowed his eyes slightly, seemingly lost in thought, and then replied, "She is still in the capital, not brought here... Could it be that the guards love this woman? If so, as long as you defeat the barbarian bandits, I will not hesitate to bestow upon you a broom."

Li Ji thought to himself, "This guy is really quick-witted..." He couldn't help but feel secretly pleased, but considering that Cui Qi was determined not to be given away as a concubine, "Cui Guangyuan, how do you want to bestow her upon me, and what procedures should be followed? We still need to discuss this carefully..."

Judging from their attitude, it's like a drowning man grasping at a straw; they insist I first help them repel the barbarian hordes outside the city before they'll grant my request. Alright then, let's prioritize national affairs and discuss this further after this battle.

He then comforted Cui Guangyuan with a few words and took his leave. Nothing more was said that night. The next morning, he donned his armor and, leading Li Sheng and Wang Bo, followed Wei Lun to the western city to observe the enemy's situation.

As Sun Tzu said, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated." Therefore, before Li Ji went up the city wall to observe the enemy, he first carefully examined the situation of the defending troops inside the city.

Looking at the Tang soldiers, their armor and weaponry were fairly good—by the average standards of the time, of course, incomparable to the Imperial Guards of Weiyuan—but their overall quality was low. Many were old soldiers in their forties or fifties, or appeared to be underage boys. In general, morale was poor; more than half looked hungry, and many had shifty eyes, seemingly fearful. It's likely that if it weren't for defending a city, but rather a field battle, such soldiers would have scattered and fled in no time.

He then asked Wellen, "How long have these troops been stationed in the Defense Command?"

Wellen, understanding the implied meaning, immediately smiled bitterly and said, "It's only been a little over a month... before we even had time to reorganize, we were forced to leave the city to fight the rebels, and then we were routed in a single battle..."

"Such a general is not suited for field battles."

Weiren said, "I know—but when the rebels first rose up, they numbered only a little over ten thousand. Just as we were leading our army to fight Guo Yin on the Qian River, the Dangxiang Qiang suddenly marched south to aid the rebels, leading to the defeat of our government troops..."

Li Ji thought to himself, "Wei Lun has just arrived, so I'll lead my troops out to kill the bandits. Cui Guangyuan, you've been here for several months now, haven't you? It seems the rumors circulating in the capital that since taking office, that fellow has only been gambling and drinking with his advisors, and hasn't been involved in military affairs, are true. Even if Cui Guangyuan transfers command of Wei Lun to me, I wouldn't dare use such troops. I can only wait for the two foreign armies to arrive and see their quality before making a decision."

It's hard to say about the Jingyuan Army, but the Fufang Army originally belonged to Shuofang Town and was said to be Guo Ziyi's old subordinates, so theoretically they shouldn't be too bad.

It's also because Li Heng is too wary of Guo Ziyi. If the old Minister of Works were sent to Fengxiang, the Tanguts might turn around and run away again.

After climbing the western city wall, they looked out at the enemy camp outside the city. The banners were in disarray, stretching for miles—at first glance, it was indeed quite frightening. Li Ji observed for a long time, then turned to Li Sheng and asked, "What do you think?"

This was clearly a test. Li Ji wanted to see if this former fierce general from Guanzhong had been completely worn down by the comfortable life in the capital.

Li Sheng clasped his hands and calmly replied, "In my opinion, the bandits besieging the city number about 50,000... Presumably, other groups have been raiding the surrounding villages, and their locations are still far away. These 50,000 are scattered in more than ten places, clearly separated from each other, which shows that the various Hu tribes are not on good terms and each harbors their own suspicions..." He pointed to a distant spot and said, "Among them, the camp bears the banner with the character 'Guo,' which must be that scoundrel Guo Yin. I heard that all the Hu tribes were invited by him. If we can defeat Guo Yin, the Hu tribes' morale will surely be shaken, and they may scatter one after another. If the government troops attack them one by one, defeating them will not be difficult."

Before Li Ji could speak, Wei Lun said, "What Commander Li said is correct. However, although the Hu tribes march without formation and are chaotic and disorganized, they have many brave and fierce soldiers who are skilled in riding and archery, so they should not be underestimated. Moreover, Guo's bandits are often at the rear, and it is not easy to make the Hu tribes take the lead and crush Guo's bandits in the midst of ten thousand troops.

Just then, they heard the sound of a huqin (a type of ancient Chinese wind instrument) coming from below the city. Everyone turned around and saw that the enemy camp was wide open, and a swarm of soldiers charged out, approaching the city moat. The lead general, sitting on his horse, shouted a challenge.

Looking from afar, Li Ji saw that the general's armor was gleaming, he was quite robust, and his horse was also magnificent. He wielded a twelve-foot-long lance with one hand, moving it with the speed of the wind, and cheers erupted from all around. He then asked Wei Lun, "Who is this?"

Wei Lun replied, "Guo Yin's younger brother, Guo Yun, is skilled in archery and horsemanship and is a valiant general. He comes to challenge the city every day."

Li Ji placed his hand on the city wall, observing Guo Yun's horsemanship and spear-wielding posture for a while, a slight smile appearing on his lips. He then said to Wei Lun, "In my opinion, he's nothing special—let me go out of the city and kill this traitor. That will surely dampen the enemy's morale and further demoralize the various Hu tribes." As he spoke, he tilted his head, turning to look at the two commanders he had brought. Wang Bo instinctively shrank back, while Li Sheng puffed out his chest: "I am willing to follow you, Chief Secretary."

Li Ji thought to himself, "Okay, this man still has courage; perhaps he can be used."

Wei Lun hurriedly reminded him, "Second Brother is brave and will surely defeat the enemy. However, if Guo Yun escapes, be careful not to overdo it and recklessly pursue him." Li Ji bowed and agreed, then ordered Li Sheng, "Summon those two hundred soldiers and come with me out of the city."

Along the journey from Chang'an to Fengxiang, Li Ji deliberately ate and lodged with the soldiers, mainly to ascertain the details of the unit and to try to win over their morale. He had the most contact with the two hundred former soldiers of the "Weiyuan Camp" selected by Li Sheng. Through careful observation and questioning, he learned that those soldiers had indeed all been on the battlefield and seen blood, so today he planned to have them follow him to charge into battle again before the enemy's ten thousand horses, to see if they could rekindle their former fighting spirit.

Wei Lun personally beat the drum on the city wall. With a single drumbeat, the city gates opened, the drawbridge lowered, and Li Ji led two hundred soldiers, including Li Sheng, out of the city to face Guo Yun. Upon seeing this, Guo Yun immediately roused himself, gripping the reins with his left hand and brandishing his spear with his right, shouting, "General, state your name! Do you dare to challenge me?"

Li Ji ordered his soldiers to hold their positions, then spurred his horse forward, shouting, "I am Li Ji of Jingzhao, and I have come to kill you!"

Upon hearing this, Guo Yun was slightly taken aback: "Is this Li Erlang, who defeated the Xiongnu in Longyou?"

"Now that you've heard of me, why don't you dismount and surrender immediately?!"

These were all just polite words; once registration was complete, the fight would begin. Unexpectedly, upon hearing that Li Ji had arrived, Guo Yun fell silent, immediately lowered his spear, turned his horse, and rode away…

This move was completely unexpected by Li Ji—hey, we haven't even started fighting yet, why are you running away?

The key point is that Guo Yun is not stupid. Although he boasts that he is skilled in archery and horsemanship and has the ability to kill generals and seize flags, he can only be a hero in a state or county. The opponent is a famous brave general in the world. The chance of losing is too big. How can he dare to let the opponent go easily?

Guo Yun immediately turned and left. Li Ji spurred his horse to give chase, but arrows rained down from the enemy ranks, forcing him to rein in his horse. He then ordered his soldiers to shout a few times to boost morale before reluctantly turning back into the city.

Looking back at Li Sheng on the way, he said, "If I had known, I wouldn't have exchanged names with him." Li Sheng couldn't help but smile bitterly, but still took the opportunity to flatter Li Ji: "The Chief Clerk is the bravest in the army. He would not dare to fight against a petty bandit from the countryside."

Although they hadn't actually engaged in a proper battle, nor had they captured or killed Guo Yun, the Tang army on the city walls was jubilant. Ordinary soldiers were short-sighted and simple-minded, knowing little of military strategy, but they knew that with a brave general in command, victory was assured; now that a renowned general had arrived in Fengxiang, and the enemy general dared not confront him, retreating at the mere sound of his voice, the city would most likely hold, and their lives would be spared—how could they not cheer with joy?

Li Ji went up to the city wall again and observed carefully. He saw that the enemy army was indeed just shouting and cursing, and had no intention of attacking the city. He guessed that they had neither the technology and financial resources to build siege equipment, and that each unit was unwilling to be the first to surrender and waste their own strength. So he went to train the thousand Weiyuan soldiers and focused his main efforts on the two hundred men selected by Li Sheng.

However, as Wellen said, it is by no means easy to train a group of old soldiers into a fighting force.

The next morning, Li Ji and the others climbed the city wall again to see if the situation was any different from the day before, only to find that Guo Yun had run out to challenge them again.

All eyes turned to Li Ji, the implication being: you'd better go down and scare him away. Li Ji, however, couldn't help but sneer: "Yesterday he dared not challenge me, and today he hasn't changed his approach, yet he's here to hurl insults again. He must have set up an ambush—does he think I'm stupid?!"

After visually estimating the distance to the enemy, he ordered, "Bring me my bow."

This was still the large bow that Pugu Huai'en had given him that day. It was inconvenient to use on horseback, but now, standing on the city wall, he could draw it to its fullest extent. He nocked a heavily fletched arrow, aimed at Guo Yun, released the string, and fired a powerful shot.

With a "whoosh," Guo Yun, having been through battle before, instinctively ducked, but the arrow still flew past him, about a foot above his head...

Li Ji thought it was a pity. He had practiced shooting enemies on flat ground to a high degree, but this was the first time he had ever shot an arrow from a two-zhang-high city wall, and he hadn't been able to calculate the parabola properly... Just as he was feeling regretful, he heard a "thud" of a bowstring beside him, and then another arrow flew out in an arc, hitting Guo Yun in the back right on the head!

Why did it hit him in the back? Because although Li Ji's initial arrow missed, it had quite frightened Guo Yun. He thought to himself, "I was standing on the city wall, well outside the range of my arrows. Who is so strong and has such a powerful bow that they could shoot right behind me? Oh, it must be that Li Erlang... No, I need to retreat another ten paces to be safe." Just as he turned his horse around, the second arrow from the city wall arrived, hitting him squarely in the back.

Guo Yun cried out and tumbled off his horse. His men rushed to his aid and helped him back to his feet.

Li Ji glanced at the corner of his eye and realized that the archer was none other than Li Sheng, Li Liangqi!

Looking at Li Sheng's arrow, his strength, bow strength, and even accuracy may not be stronger than Li Ji's. However, the opponent may have had experience shooting enemies from the city wall, or he may have learned a lesson from Li Ji's first miss, which is why he was able to hit the target and succeed.

That's quite remarkable. To hit a moving enemy steadily from about a hundred paces away is a feat rarely seen in an army. No wonder this man once shot a barbarian general with an arrow in Longyou and received praise from Wang Zhongsi. The Ministry of War even made a special note of it in their archives.

Unfortunately, from a distance, it appeared that Shi, who was in the midst of the arrow's momentum, had already weakened, and when Guo Yun was carried away, his limbs were still able to move, so it was estimated that he was at most seriously injured and would not die immediately.

When Li Sheng saw Li Ji glancing at him sideways, he felt a chill run down his spine. He quickly slung his bow over his shoulder, bowed slightly, then straightened up and shouted, "Chief Secretary Li has hit the enemy!"

Li Ji thought to himself, "Why are you doing this? Have you been sitting on the sidelines in Chang'an for too long, enduring the disdain of high-ranking officials every day?" He immediately stepped to the side, grabbed Li Sheng's left hand holding the bow, raised it high, and exclaimed, "It was Commander Li who hit the target; he deserves the greatest credit for today!"

"Chief Secretary..."

Li Ji released his grip and patted Li Sheng on the shoulder: "I respect warriors but dislike flatterers. Please do not shirk your responsibilities."

"Yes... I will obey your command."

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Three days later, the five thousand Fuyan soldiers finally arrived, led by a lieutenant general named Wu Chongfu, who was said to have originally been a member of Guo Ziyi's personal guard. Li Ji observed the Fuyan soldiers; their organization seemed somewhat lax, and their ranks were far less orderly than those of the Weiyuan army. However, each soldier stood tall with his chest puffed out and his lips pursed, displaying extremely high morale and a palpable air of killing intent, a stark contrast to the city's garrison.

They all seem to be seasoned veterans.

As was customary, he first paid his respects to Cui Guangyuan and enjoyed a sumptuous meal with him. Wu Chongfu, a thoroughly hardened revolutionary, didn't observe proper etiquette during the banquet, only caring about satiating himself. His beard was covered in grease from eating, drawing sidelong glances from Cui Guangyuan, Wei Lun, and others, who looked at him with disdain. Wu Chongfu, however, wasn't stupid and noticed this. After he had eaten and drunk his fill, he wiped his hands and beard clean with a handkerchief presented by a maid, then laughed heartily and said, "There's no good food or drink in the army. It's rare to have troubled Lord Cui like this; I've been a bit presumptuous..."

"Don't look down on me, Lord Cui. I have studied and gone to school, but I am not good at poetry and prose and dare not take the exams. I can only join the army of Minister Situ and try to gain fame and fortune through swords and horses."

Li Ji quite liked this man's forthright personality, so he smiled and asked him, "Since you've studied, why not take the military examination like Minister Situ?"

Wu Chongfu laughed and said, "How dare I compare myself to Minister Situ? I was born too late and missed the opportune time. Rather than take the military examination, I'd rather join the inner circle..."

Since the Tianbao era, the power of the military governors had gradually increased, and they often appointed themselves as generals and officials. Even those who passed the military examinations, even if given official positions by the court, still had to serve as military governors in border towns to have the opportunity to fight on the battlefield and accumulate merits for promotion. Therefore, Wu Chongfu's idea was that if he had been born a few years earlier, he would have followed Guo Ziyi and entered officialdom through the military examinations. However, by the time he came of age, serving in the army was the proper path, and taking the military examinations would have been superfluous and unnecessary.

Li Ji thought to himself, "The power to select junior and middle-ranking military officers should not be held by the central government. Although there is a nominal military examination, it is actually handed over to the border garrisons. If this is the case, how can the likes of An Lushan not cause trouble when they are powerful? Moreover, it seems that there may be even more trouble in the future. It's just that unless Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi rebel, it will not lead to such a large-scale upheaval as the An Lushan Rebellion, or even the collapse of the two capitals."

Chapter 49, Discord Between Generals

Wu Chongfu, the general of Fuyuan, was arrogant and overconfident after leading his elite troops. After surveying the enemy's situation from the city wall, he immediately smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Even with such a disorganized enemy, who is like chickens and dogs, my Fuyuan army, though only numbering five thousand, can still be defeated by Lord Cui and Defender Wei!"

Wei Lun was very polite to Li Ji—firstly because Li Ji was renowned, and secondly because he was a civil official—but he was unwilling to show much courtesy to Wu Chongfu, who was purely a military general and seemed to be a rough and uncultured man. He immediately rebuked him, saying, "The disparity in numbers is too great, how can you say you are sure to win? Being careless and underestimating the enemy is not a blessing for a general—let's wait for the Jingyuan army to arrive before deciding on a strategy."

However, to everyone's surprise, the Jingyuan Army was unable to arrive...

The next day, a messenger suddenly entered the city through the north gate, reporting that five thousand Jingyuan troops were marching south from Longzhou, intending to directly outflank the rebels. However, they were ambushed by tens of thousands of Hu bandits near Qianyang. After a fierce battle lasting half a day, they suffered heavy losses and were forced to retreat back to their stronghold...

When the generals were gathered in the military governor's hall, Wu Chongfu, upon hearing the news, immediately slammed his fist on the table and cursed, "Who led the Jingyuan army? They are like pigs and dogs, so reckless and weak!" Wei Lun said sadly, "Now that Jingyuan has retreated, only Fuyan remains. I'm afraid it will be difficult to defeat the enemy... We should plead with the court for more reinforcements."

Wu Chongfu curled his lip: "Where will the imperial court get so many reinforcements?" He stood up, cupped his hands to Cui Guangyuan: "We have no need for the Jingyuan army's assistance. This humble general requests to lead the Fuyan army out of the city, and we will surely crush the enemy in front of us in one fell swoop!"

Cui Guangyuan ignored him and instead looked at Li Ji: "What does Changwei think?"

Li Ji nodded slightly to Cui Guangyuan, then turned to Wu Chongfu and slowly asked, "General, you say you are sure you can defeat the enemy, but the number of those coming from Fuyan is only five thousand, while the number of bandits is more than ten times that. May I ask how you plan to defeat them? Is there a complete plan in place, or is this just empty talk?"

Wu Chongfu was displeased, but dared not refuse to answer—this Chief Secretary Li was clearly asking the question on behalf of the military governor—and immediately turned to Cui Guangyuan, crossed his arms and said loudly, "The establishment of our Fuyan Army was originally to resist the Dangxiang and Western Qiang. Now, half of those Liao people have left the prefecture and are attacking Fengxiang. Therefore, Commander Du (referring to Du Mian, the deputy military governor and defense commissioner of Fufang Danyan) has selected the elite troops and ordered me to lead these five thousand men to settle Qin and Long in one battle, so as to ensure the peace of Fufang, Jingyuan and other places for several years."

"Therefore, the soldiers under my command are all brave and fierce warriors who have fought against the various Hu tribes a hundred times and are used to taking their heads. One of them can be worth a hundred Hu, let alone ten times that number. Moreover, not all Hu tribes are the same. For example, the Dangxiang and Tuyuhun tribes had their former lands taken by the Tubo and have been living in Longshang ever since. Although the court has set up prefectures and enclosed lands to allow them to raise livestock, the land is actually small and barren, and their livestock do not thrive. They are all poor Han people! The Hu people are not very strong, their horses are not very good, their weapons are crude, and their armor is incomplete. Compared with the Tubo and Uyghur, they are as different as heaven and earth."

"If it weren't for the chaos in Guandong and the transfer of western troops to the east, neither the Tibetans nor the Uyghurs would have dared to challenge our Tang army, let alone these remnants of the barbarian tribes. If they were united and their orders were strict, they would not be easy to defeat. But now, all these tribes are standing together, they were only invited by a band of outlaws. Even when they set up camp under the city walls, they are far apart, as if they are afraid that their peers will take advantage of their weakness to attack them. Even if there are 100,000 of them, they are not worth fearing."

"However, with so many barbarian bandits gathering in Fengxiang, they will inevitably plunder the surrounding villages. If we do not defeat them in a day, the people will suffer even more and will not have a day of peace. To the west of here lies Longyou, where the King of Qi has been fiercely resisting the barbarian bandits for several years. If we remain here for too long, I fear that the barbarian bandits will invade again this autumn. If we coordinate with the other barbarian bandits to launch a pincer attack, Longyou will be in grave danger! Moreover, the barbarian bandits of Qin, Long, Jing, and Qing number more than 100,000. If they see that the government troops are slow to defeat the bandits, they may come to join us in droves. At that time, even if they dare not attack Fengxiang, they will surely go to take other counties. If we lose cities and towns, how can Lord Cui bear the consequences when the court questions us?"

"My strategy is to select two hundred elite cavalry, armored men and horses, to lead the charge, armed with long spears and broadswords, to form a battle line and then join the main force. Those barbarian bandits with weak bows and horses will surely be unable to withstand us. As long as each man fights bravely and advances quickly, the barbarians will not be able to come to our aid in time, and may even sit and watch. We can then break through their front lines and advance on Guo Yin's main force. If we kill Guo Yin, the barbarians will scatter, and the siege of Fengxiang will be lifted. If we can take advantage of the situation to inflict heavy casualties, we can even hope to secure peace in Longxi for several years in one battle!"

"I humbly request Lord Cui to grant my request and allow me to lead the Fuyuan army out of the city to defeat the enemy!"