The Emperor Reigns Them All

Chapter 194 Li Keyong’s Dilemma

A strange look flashed in Yang Fuguang and Zhou Ji’s eyes upon hearing Li Ye’s words. It seemed that Li Ye knew Qin Zongquan’s affairs, which was very abnormal. In principle, it was impossible for Li Ye to know the internal affairs of Zhongwu Army for he was far away in Pinglu.

Zhou Ji was still hesitating, but Yang Fuguang had already turned his eyes to Song Jiao before finally pulling them back. When he introduced Song Jiao, Li Ye said very clearly that she was in charge of all his spies. She was the leader of the spies instead of the scouts, which was a very meaningful title.

In combination with the other’s cultivation, it was not difficult for Yang Fuguang to figure out that the spies Li Ye talked about were likely to be in Jianghu. However, this was not unusual since he had heard of similar things. When Li Xian was alive, he had a habit of using the Jianghu cultivators to collect battle information in every conquest. Gao Pian was no different.

However, the fact that Li Ye was able to gather the information of the Zhongwu Army before he arrived in the Central Plains showed that he had planned well in advance. Thinking of the purpose of Li Ye coming out of Pinglu, Yang Fuguang realized that Li Ye was playing a big game of chess. So Yang Fuguang couldn’t help but raise his respect for Li Ye to another level.

Noticing that the way Yang Fuguang looked at him was weird, Li Ye smiled and added, “Inspector Yang does not have to look at me that way. It’s obvious that Qin Zongquan is the one I was talking about.”

Zhou Ji was quite surprised by the fact that Li Ye admitted it casually. But Yang Fuguang said, “What Prince An said is right, that we must work together during times of war. Even if we can’t fight the common enemy together, we still can’t let us hold them back. So, let us take a trip to Caizhou and meet Qin Zongquan.”

Zhou Ji was shocked, and added, “Wouldn’t the inspector’s trip to Caizhou be like giving yourself up to the tigers if Qin Zongquan were disloyal to Prince An?”

Yang Fuguang looked at Li Ye and smiled, “There is no need to worry, envoy. Wind is blowing in our favor now that Your Highness Prince An is helping us. Plus, Qin Zongquan is a wise man, he would not go against the wind. At least not during these times because it could be held against him in the future.”

Zhou Ji was still hesitant, and trying to decide. So Li Ye added, “What the inspector said is right. With the battle tonight, I believe Qin Zongquan will know what he should do.”

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Then, the people discussed the details of the joint military expedition. Li Ye did not mention food supplies at that moment. After all, Pinglu Army’s grain could still last for a while. He planned to ask after they attacked Dengzhou. It would be right and proper then.

After discussions, Li Ye did not stay in Xuzhou any longer. Before he left, he told Yang Fuguang and Zhou Ji that his messenger would get here soon, and future contacts would be handed over to the messenger.

The next day, Li Ye left Xuzhou. He asked Song Jiao to send a cultivator from the Black Office to deliver a letter to Liu Dazheng that requested him to lead the army into Xuzhou, and join forces with the Zhongwu Army. Then their joined forces would head to Dengzhou as planned.

Li Ye intended to take a trip to Dengzhou personally and check out the defense situation in Dengzhou. It was a way for him to act like a scout.

It was easy to get in and out of the city when your cultivation had reached the Qi-refining Level 9 as long as you did not confront the army head on. There was nothing the city defense army could do. Therefore, Li Ye did not have to worry about his personal safety. In addition, he went to see the defense situation in Dengzhou, naturally, he could see much more than general scouts and spies.

It would be even better if there were a chance to meet Zhu Wen before the battle. Because only by knowing yourself and your enemy, could you then win every battle.

...

Li Guochang was getting up in age. In the past few years, when he was still the Zhenwu Commissioner, he refused to obey the imperial court and took the liberty to invade Zhenzhou village. He was condemned by the nearby towns for his actions. The war lasted for several years, and hundreds of battles erupted. But he was eventually defeated and had to flee to the grassland to take refuge at the Tartar ministry.

Fortunately for him, the Tang imperial court was quite weak. Hence they did not pass the great wall and chase after him in Tartar ministry. Only then was Li Guochang able to breathe. If the Tang imperial court were at its heights, Li Guochang would probably have nowhere to go and be arrested to pay for his crimes. The series of battles had given Li Guochang nothing but new wounds. Add to that the old wounds that he had incurred, his body was deteriorating day by day.

Now that Huang Chao attacked Chang’an, the most important thing for the Tang imperial court was to defeat the rebels and recapture the capital. Therefore, all that Li Guochang had gone through previously had become secondary. In addition, some people had put in a good word for Li Guochang and his son. Li Yan also believed that Shatuo military was quite powerful and dependable, which gave Li Guochang the opportunity to redeem himself and fight Huang Chao.

The current war was the only chance for Li Guochang and his son to make a comeback. Li Guochang was unable to lead the troops personally because of his poor physical health, so Li Keyong had to lead the army alone.

Li Keyong borrowed 50,000 soldiers and horses from the Tartar ministry, and then went south to the state. They did not stop until they arrived in Daizhou. There, he saw the chief of the Shatuo ministry, Li Jinyou, who was Li Guochang’s brother.

The Shatuo Ministry had been attached to the Tang Dynasty for many years to defend the border of the Tang Dynasty, which was called the Northern Army. This time, when Huang Chao breached Chang’an, Li Yan and Zheng Tian quickly recruited the border military to the capital and attacked Huang Chao. The Northern Army was on the list of the recruits.

During the battle between Li Guochang and the Tang Army, the entire Shatuo sect was the Tang army’s target. Later, Li Guochang was repeatedly defeated, and Li Youjin surrendered to the Tang Army after seeing the situation. Although by doing so, Li Youjin had kind framed Li Guochang and his son, at least he was able to keep Shatuo sect. After the war, Li Guochang and his son escaped far to the grassland to seek refuge, the Shatuo sect was still the Tang Dynasty’s border military.

If Li Youjin hadn’t betrayed them, then Li Guochang and his son would not have the opportunity to redeem themselves.

Now under the name of patriotism and with the bigger picture in mind, Li Youjin had a reason to make an appeal to the court and request Li Keyong to bring his troops to help him. That also had given Li Keyong a chance to make a comeback.

In order to lead the troops to fight, the first thing was to have food. The Tartar ministry lent Li Keyong soldiers, but not food. Li Keyong could not herd hundreds of thousands of sheep across the border and all the way to Chang’an. So Li Keyong had to borrow food from the vassal state.

Li Youjin had no food because the border army’s grain had always been supplied by the Central Plains. So then Li Keyong turned to Hedong commissioner to try and borrow some grain.

On this day, the general who went to transport the grain had returned.

“General, the grain is successfully transported back.” The one who said that was a young general. He was born with thick and powerful back and shoulders and looked strong. The young general, An Cunxiao, just also happened to be Li Keyong’s confidant. An Cunxiao was only two years younger than him.

“How much food did you bring back?” Li Keyong quickly got up and asked.

“5000 gallons of rice and 5000 runs of copper coins.” An Cunxiao replied.

“What?” Li Keyong was stunned. 5000 gallons of rice and 5000 runs of copper coins were of course not an abundance, but too little. For the 50,000 soldiers, this was not even enough for them to fill the holes between their teeth.

What’s more, after Li Keyong’s arrival in Daizhou, the number of soldiers and horses had increased to more than 50,000. He had recruited the warriors of the Tartar ministry, and now the number of soldiers and horses reached 100,000.

All Li Keyong could feel was rage and he added, “That scumbag Zheng Congdang, how dare he insult me?”

Zheng Congdang was the Hedong’s commissioner, and Daizhou was also a state of Hedong. Li Keyong was bound to go through Hedong to enter the Central Plains. And Hedong commissioner was also the most powerful commissioner along the way. Hedong was the east of the Yellow River, Sanjin’s land.

Zheng Congdang had a lot more grain than what they had transported back. It was obvious that Zheng Congdang did not intend to give Li Keyong grain.

At this time, a white-faced monk sitting in the tent started talking, “When the old general was still the Zhenwu Commissioner, he did not get along with Hedong. Kang Chengxun was in the town of Hedong in order to sway the Zhenwu Army to their side. Later, the Zhenwu Army forced Kang Chengxun out of town and he eventually died on his way home. Zheng Congdang succeeded as the next commissioner, and naturally, he gave the general the long face.”

This monk was Huiming from Juexiao Temple. He had been to Chang’an with Li Keyong. At that time, Li Keyong fought with Li Ye in Huangli County. If Huiming didn’t protect Li Keyong to leave quickly, Li Keyong would have been captured by Li Ye.

Li Keyong waved his hand and let An Cunxiao go down first. He returned to the main seat and looked at Huiming. He was still angry, “I am here to lead the army to fight against the rebels and serve the country. In the name of the righteous, how dare Zheng Congdang do this? Does he want to stop me from going south?”

“Obviously, Zheng Congdang has those intentions.”

Huiming looked down and replied in a dull, casual tone, “But Zheng Congdang should not be the one to blame. When the old general controlled the Zhenwu Army, they invaded the nearby towns. He expanded his power and finally fought against the imperial court’s army. To the ministers, the general and you, were like the rebels. Although when Huang Chao is making trouble in the Central Plains, the imperial court has agreed to recruit you to head south to defend against the rebels. But who can guarantee that you are different from Huang Chao? Perhaps, you have the same mind as Huang Chao, taking advantage of this opportunity to overthrow the Tang Empire.”

These words were very harsh and heart-wrenching, but also very calm coming from Huiming’s mouth. And there was a convincing force in the calm.

Li Keyong was a little embarrassed because back when the Zhenwu Army did not follow the imperial order and invaded the nearby towns, they were considered usurpers. To put it bluntly, it was a rebellion. Not to mention that back then Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao were on the rise in the Central Plains too. They were echoing from the north and south.

But who would have thought that after the official army battled Huang Chao for a few years, although the official army forced Huang Chao to flee to the north and south of the river and finally hid in the south of the Five Ridges of Guangzhou, he had become stronger. He had more forces the more he battled. And even breached Chang’an in the end. Li Guochang and his son on the other hand, though they had the Shatuo soldiers, were unexpectedly defeated.

Until now Li Keyong could not understand why Shatuo’s elite soldiers, who were far more refined than Huang Chao’s soldiers, could be defeated.

As long as the Tang dynasty could put aside their civil war and unite to defend against outside invaders of different races, they could defeat them easily. All the commissioners of the different sects in the grass lands believed they were strong and lead their armies south. They couldn’t even defeat the Vassal State Army of the border, much less invade the central plains, even when the Tang dynasty was at its weakest.

Later, the Qidan was on the rise and repeatedly invaded the south. The Lulong Army, who garrisoned Youzhou, fought a whole nation but did not let Qidan breach the Central Plains.

There was only one exception, Hexi—the Western Regions. They were seriously lacking in troops and often had to fight 1 to 100. It was truly common for them to battle against the odds. The Tang army in the Western Regions were still able to fight bloody battles and hold on for decades. But that was another story for a different day.

Li Keyong was annoyed and added, “I am faithful to the country. All I want is to repent for my sins. How could I be like those Huang rebels?”

After he finished those words, Li Keyong suddenly came to his senses, looked at Huiming and added, “The master means that it is how Zheng Congdang thinks? He suspects that I am scheming against my country, so that’s why he’s not willing to supply food?”

Huiming showed a smile and replied, “You are indeed smart. A word to the wise is sufficient.”