Tang Dynasty Swordsman

Page 145

Author's Note: I recommend a new book, *Jin Jin*, which is available on this website. It also tells the story of the late Western Jin Dynasty, and it should begin a few years earlier than my previous work, *Le Hu Ma*. The writing style is good, but the protagonist's soul is transmigrated into the body of a Jie barbarian, so what kind of path he will take in the future is really unpredictable. I'm quite curious myself—it's currently being read.

Chapter Twenty-Three: My Mind is in Turmoil

In Weibo Town, or at least in Weizhou, military and political affairs have temporarily returned to normal. Although there are still many hidden dangers within, they need time to develop and are unlikely to cause any major chaos in the short term.

When the news reached Qinghe, Qin Rui summoned his advisors for a discussion. He said it was time; Li Ji had essentially secured his position, and they needed to send someone to contact him and express their desire for goodwill. The first choice for an envoy was naturally Xu Yu, but Xu Yu had had time to think things through and finally decided on his words—

"When my father was in Pengcheng, Suiyang was besieged. Nan Ba ​​broke out of the siege to seek help, but my father thought the time was not right and postponed sending troops. Nan Ba ​​was ignorant and foolish, and therefore deeply resented my father... Now I hear that Nan Ba ​​is an important general in Weibo and a confidant of Commander Li. I am afraid that he will cause trouble due to old grudges. Therefore, it is not appropriate for me to send him as an envoy. It would be better for the Commander to appoint someone else."

—After much effort, Qin Rui and Tian Chengsi's requests to be promoted to military governors are on track, and they are just waiting for the court to issue an official edict. Meanwhile, within Dezhou and Beizhou, Xu Yu and other officers have already started calling Qin Rui "military governor".

Xu Yu's reasons were plausible, leaving Qin Rui with no choice but to change his mind and order Guo Mo to send a message to Li Ji. The two towns could meet at the border of Yongji and Guantao counties to discuss cooperation or even an alliance in person. Of course, the specific time had to be after I had been awarded the insignia, as I was not willing to be inferior to Li Ji.

Before parting, Qin Rui privately inquired of Guo Mo, "Sir, could you please inquire whether Li Ji's wife, Cui, has come along?" Guo Mo was puzzled—why was he so concerned about someone else's wife? Qin Rui quickly fabricated an excuse, saying, "I have some old ties with Cui Guangyuan. Wouldn't it be good if we could solidify our relationship through Cui?" Guo Mo suddenly understood and hurriedly bowed, "General, your wisdom is profound..."

However, when Guo Mo arrived in Yuancheng and inquired, Li Ji was nowhere to be found. Du Huangshang received him and informed him, "Commander Li has gone to the county and we do not know when he will return." He then expressed his willingness to befriend De and Bei, open checkpoints between neighboring prefectures, encourage commerce, and facilitate the exchange of goods, but—"I cannot decide on the matter of Commander Li's meeting with Defense Commander Qin. I should inform Commander Li first and then send someone to Qinghe to inform him."

Guo Mo was quite disappointed. In addition, he had inquired and found that Li Ji's wife, Cui, had not brought her to Weizhou—the route to the lady was temporarily blocked—so after staying in Yuancheng for a few days, he set off to return to Qinghe.

It was already mid-June when the imperial court officially issued an edict appointing Tian Chengsi and Qin Rui as military governors—the former as the military governor of Jizhou and the latter as the military governor of Wushun Army.

Meanwhile, through the efforts of Li Mi and others, the Tang Dynasty made certain adjustments to the selection of military governors in the Henan region—the Pinglu and Ziqing towns were merged, with Hou Xiyi, the former military governor of Ziqing, in command; Tian Shenggong, the former military governor of Pinglu, replaced Zhang Xiancheng as the military governor of Xuanwu; Neng Yuanhao was dismissed as the military governor of Tianping, and the three prefectures of Yun, Cao, and Pu were placed under the direct jurisdiction of the central government; Li Mian was appointed as the military governor of Zhongwu, governing the three prefectures of Chen, Xu, and Cai; Shang Heng was appointed as the military governor of Ganhua, governing the three prefectures of Xu, Hao, and Su; and Linghu Zhang remained the military governor of Yicheng.

Originally, 70% of the prefectures and counties in Henan were under the control of surrendered generals (or those who had once surrendered to the puppet Yan regime under the leadership of their superiors). Now, half of them have been changed, and Li Mian and Shang Heng, who have always been Tang subjects, have been inserted. Moreover, the Zhongwu and Ganhua towns are flanked by Tian Shenggong of Xuanwu Army, who is the most unreliable force.

As for Li Ji, after the situation in Guixiang and Yuancheng had basically stabilized, just as Du Huangshang had told Guo Mo, he personally went to "visit the counties".

"Visiting counties" means inspecting various counties. Originally, it would have been sufficient to send a subordinate official, without the need for the military governor to personally go. However, Li Ji hoped to personally experience the local customs and conditions in his jurisdiction and conduct a relatively in-depth "social survey." In addition, Du Huangshang, Gao Ying, and others had already largely taken over the daily affairs, so there was no need to worry for the time being. Therefore, he led Yuan Jing'an and ten guards incognito out of Yuan City.

His subordinates advised him to take more guards to prevent any unforeseen events, but Li Ji disagreed. Firstly, with more men, he would be surrounded by a large entourage, making it difficult to penetrate the countryside and get close to the people. Secondly, according to his preliminary investigation, there were no large bandit groups in Weizhou that could threaten his personal safety. In fact, the most unstable factor was his former soldiers, and since seven or eight tenths of them had been brought under his command, the area was naturally much more peaceful.

Li Ji was quite confident in his martial arts skills, believing that an ordinary hundred or two hundred people could not do anything to him—if I can't beat them, can't I at least run away? After all, this was the era of cold weapons, unlike later generations, where, as the saying goes, "No matter how good your kung fu is, one spear can take you down."

The trip had three main purposes. First, he wanted to find suitable candidates among the scholars, not necessarily those of the caliber of Du Huangshang or Gao Ying, but just enough to get by. He was desperately short of manpower.

Li Ji currently oversees three sets of personnel: first, the military and political system's subordinates of the Jiedushi (military governor); second, the civil and supervisory system's subordinates of the Guanchashi (inspectorate commissioners)—these two sets can be held concurrently; and third, the Weizhou prefecture. To avoid any obstacles, through the efforts of Li Shi, Li Bi, and others, the court has not appointed any deputy positions to Li Ji, including deputy Jiedushi, deputy Guanchashi, or prefectural governor. Theoretically, the third-highest position in each government office is held only by the prefectural governor, with the position of Chief Clerk Feng Yan. It is said that a Jiedushi Sima (military governor's assistant) will be appointed, but a suitable candidate has not yet been chosen.

The positions included judges, scribes, investigators, advisors, staff officers, clerks, registers, and inspectors, etc. Currently, only one-third of the quota has been met. Fortunately, there are no clear regulations on the number and powers of the subordinates of the military governors and observers. As long as Du Huangshang, Gao Ying, and others work hard, they can hold multiple positions without violating regulations.

Below the Chief Secretary, the prefectures also typically have military advisors, recorders, military advisors such as those in charge of granaries, fields, and military strategy, as well as market magistrates, literary advisors, and medical doctors, totaling twenty or thirty people. Currently, the number of such positions is not even full, and most of them are former officials of the pseudo-Yan regime who have remained in their posts—the same applies to Wei and Bo prefectures.

It's easy to find low-ranking civil servants, but it's not so easy to find officials who can immediately become section chiefs or department heads—Li Ji has this authority and can directly report to those who are commoners entering officialdom. Moreover, to be on the safe side, Li Ji plans to go out and search for them himself.

The second purpose of the county tour was to survey the terrain in preparation for potential warfare; the third purpose was to examine agricultural production, industrial and mining production, and the commercial environment, and to attempt to offer some rational suggestions. Li Ji believed that even if he personally handled specific administrative affairs, he might not be much better than Du and Gao, but possessing unparalleled insight in his time, he could surpass Li Mi in macro-level planning, even if Li Mi were there.

So after leaving Yuancheng, they first headed south, circled around Changle County where troops had been stationed in the past, then went to Guancheng, and headed east towards Linhuang—Linhuang County is located on the banks of the Yellow River, opposite which is Puzhou, which was under the control of the Tianping Army (at this time, there had been no edict to withdraw the Tianping Army). There is a ferry crossing on the river, so it can be considered the southern gateway to Weizhou.

Turning north, they passed through Chaocheng and Shenxian, entering Wushui County of Bozhou. Li Ji had previously heard that the only mineral resources in Weibo Town were located between Shenxian and Wushui, including iron ore and rock salt. After conducting an on-site investigation and summoning local officials and elders for inquiries, they discovered that the mineral resources were limited and difficult to mine, making it impossible to significantly increase production in the short term…

So a decree was issued, forbidding the export of both iron ore and rock salt, which were to be centrally managed by the town. The local iron smelting workshops were ordered to cease all unproductive production and were only permitted to forge agricultural tools—after all, the iron was of poor quality and contained many impurities, making it virtually impossible to use for weapons; at most, they would be ordered to make arrowheads when urgently needed.

As the saying goes, "If you want to do a good job, you must first have the right tools." Iron farm tools are indispensable for developing agricultural production.

Compared to Longyou, the agricultural techniques in Hebei were far more advanced. According to Li Ji's investigation, the average yield per mu (a Chinese unit of area, approximately 0.067 hectares) might be 20% to 30% higher. Of course, because the main food crops were different—wheat was the primary crop in Guanzhong and Longyou, while millet and wheat were hybrids in Hebei—the estimate couldn't be too precise. However, due to years of war, even the worst iron was often confiscated to make weapons, leaving many impoverished farmers still using ancient and crude wooden and stone farm tools…

Li Ji hoped to fill this gap and try to purchase oxen from other states to help farmers. He also wanted to popularize two major agricultural tools: the waterwheel and the Jiangdong plow.

There are two major water systems in Weibo: the Yellow River and the Yongji Canal. In the past, the counties diverted these waters for irrigation, which led to agricultural prosperity. However, most of them are now damaged or abandoned and must be re-dredged. Once the irrigation canals are completed, waterwheels can be built on a large scale—this thing doesn't really require much technology.

As for the Jiangdong plow, it is a short-shafted plow, named after the Jiangdong region where it was first discovered. Li Ji knew about this type of plow in his previous life. When he traveled to the county, he saw that most of the plows stored by farmers were straight-shafted plows, and there were also a few long-shafted plows that were inconvenient to operate. After inquiring, he finally learned about the existence of the Jiangdong plow from a knowledgeable village elder.

He initially planned to find craftsmen to develop the short, curved plow that had been in use for over a thousand years in the original timeline, but he only knew its shape and did not fully understand its principles, so he might not be able to "invent" it ahead of time. Knowing that such a thing already existed in Jiangdong, he sent a letter to Yin Shen, asking him to send his officers south to investigate and buy several actual objects as soon as possible to disassemble and replicate them.

The textile industry in Weibo Town was relatively developed, especially silk weaving, which had always been a major tribute item. Unfortunately, it lacked a strong brand – Dingzhou silk was considered the best in Hebei. Li Ji wondered if it was possible to develop a water-powered spinning machine. Theoretically, in those days, water-powered mills and kilns were ubiquitous, and foot-operated loom technology was nearing maturity; combining the two shouldn't be difficult. But this "not difficult" only applied to master craftsmen; they might only need a spark of inspiration. Li Ji… he hadn't even figured out a loom yet!

Where should we look for skilled craftsmen?

According to Du Huangshang and others' research of old archives, it was estimated that at the end of the Tianbao era, the total land taxes and miscellaneous labor service fees in Wei and Bo prefectures amounted to about two million strings of cash, which decreased to one million strings of cash during Shi Chaoyi's era—the burden on the people was actually heavier. If productivity remained stagnant, and Li Ji hoped to reduce the people's taxes and labor service fees, he would be lucky to collect 500,000 strings of cash. How many soldiers could 500,000 strings of cash support? Roughly calculated, the food and miscellaneous expenses of one soldier would require 20 strings of cash per year, which would barely support 25,000 people.

And that doesn't even take into account the administrative expenses of the military governors and prefectural governments, or the salaries and rewards of the officers...

Therefore, Li Ji's goal is to strive for an annual income of two million strings of cash, based on the premise that the population may be less than half of that at the end of the Tianbao era and that the taxes and corvée labor are not as heavy as at the end of the Tianbao era. Sixty percent of this income will be used to support the army, which could number fifty to sixty thousand, and forty percent will be kept in the prefectures and envoys—to pay tribute to the court? We'll talk about that later—the task is quite arduous.

With limited arable land, a stagnant population, and scarce mineral resources, the only viable option was industry and commerce. Li Ji envisioned large-scale development of the textile industry, hoping to leverage silk weaving to boost commercial prosperity. The commercial center of Weibo Town was in Guixiang, with the Yongji Canal waterway being the primary trade route; other areas were of little use.

Therefore, Li Ji couldn't help but covet the two prefectures of Cang and Di, which were located on the eastern coast. Although they lacked good ports, they at least had the benefits of fish and salt production! However, to take Cang and Di, he had to take Dezhou first... So he secretly devised a plan to attack from the west and the north—of the surrendered generals in Hebei, I want to start by taking down Qin Rui of Wu Shun's army!

Moreover, in terms of population and military strength, Qin Rui was the weakest among the surrendered generals.

Li Ji's desire to provoke trouble and start a war was never revealed to his subordinates. Du Huangshang, Gao Ying, and others were focused on pacifying the people and promoting local prosperity, and had no intention of expansion—firstly, the court had only granted them two prefectures, so without imperial orders, how could they arbitrarily launch a military campaign? Secondly, although everyone disapproved of the fact that the towns of Yan and Zhao were controlled by surrendered generals, effectively creating a separatist regime, since their crimes had been pardoned, it was inappropriate to launch a blatant attack unless they had committed illegal acts.

Li Ji, however, always felt that the greatest threat to the nation lay in the western frontier. The Tibetan Empire was advancing daily, and only by assembling a capable general and a powerful army could they be defended. He was determined to go to the western front and confront Ma Chongying again, but Li Yu and his son, including Li Mi, had instead placed him in the east…

The court's arrangement was not necessarily unreasonable. If chaos broke out in Hebei and the country was constantly scrambling internally, how could it possibly concentrate its full strength to resist the Western Barbarians? Li Bi's idea was to have Li Ji restrain the five garrisons of Yan and Zhao, on the one hand giving the court enough time to accumulate strength, and on the other hand gradually alleviating the worries of the garrisons, so that the defense against the Western Barbarians could be put on the main agenda later.

However, Li Ji felt that if he harbored a mindset of appeasement, the troubles in the east would never be resolved, and the western barbarians would never be pacified. He once asked Li Mi, "During the Kaiyuan and Tianbao eras, ten military governorships were established to defend against the Khitan and Xi, guard against the Uyghurs, and attack the Tubo and Nanzhao. How many strong soldiers were there at that time?" Li Mi replied to him, "About 500,000."

Li Ji then spread his hands: "The other day I went to the Ministry of War to inspect the files. The various military governors and regional military commissioners now command no fewer than 800,000 troops. Moreover, in newly recovered areas like Hebei, there must be some who are not yet recorded. The court wants me to train 50,000 elite troops in Weibo, but if I recruit soldiers, other garrisons will likely do the same. I believe a million troops can be recruited in no time..."

If you could really pull all one million troops to Longshang, Ma Chongying would definitely kneel down on the spot. But let's not even talk about whether there are enough food and supplies to support such a large-scale military operation. Are the surrendered generals in Hebei so easy to mobilize? If Hebei doesn't move, would Henan, Hedong, and the capital region dare to send troops away?

"...The various garrisons are mutually restraining each other, making it difficult to gather a large army to attack Tibet. Moreover, the land and population are not as good as during the Kaiyuan and Tianbao eras, but the number of soldiers is twice as large. I wonder how the court plans to amass such a force?"

Therefore, Li Mi's attempt to maintain a balance among the border and inland garrisons is understandable, but it's certainly not a long-term solution. Li Ji hoped that once his own army was strong and well-equipped, he could incite the garrisons of Yan and Zhao to attack and annex each other, then seize an opportunity to intervene and at least wipe out half of the troops in Hebei. With Hebei weakened, Henan and Hedong would be able to rest, triggering a chain reaction that would increase the court's revenue by at least 50%. At that point, he could gradually shift his forces to the western front and launch a decisive battle against the Tibetan Empire!

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Robbers of Ander

Li Ji arrived in Liaocheng, the capital of Bozhou, and met with Prefect Wang Yong and Nan Jiyun, the commander of Bozhou's military forces.

Wang Yong was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the tenth year of the Tianbao era, ranking fifth in the second-tier list. He served as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Finance and the Prefect of Yongzhou, before being transferred to Bozhou. He arrived in Hebei only a few days earlier than Li Ji, and the administration of the prefecture was not yet fully sorted out. Fortunately, Nan Jiyun arrived in time to take charge and control the army, which boosted Wang Yong's confidence in governing.

Bozhou had less than half the population of Weizhou, and its people were less fierce. Originally garrisoned at over six thousand, only a thousand later returned. Furthermore, even during its years under the control of the puppet Yan regime, it remained largely in the rear. Previously, the Tang army had only advanced to Xiang and Wei prefectures, limiting the extent of the war's devastation in Bozhou, resulting in a much better security situation. Nan Jiyun, a veteran of countless battles, possessed an even stronger killing intent than Li Ji, making it relatively easy for him to subdue the restless former generals and soldiers.

However, for this reason, Li Ji did not want to spend too much effort in Bozhou for the time being. Firstly, he was only the governor of Weizhou, while the governor of Bozhou, Wang Yong, was appointed by the court. As long as there was no major chaos in the local area and taxes and corvée could be collected on time and in accordance with the amount, Li Ji had no reason to interfere in government affairs. Secondly, Bozhou's farmland output was about half that of Weizhou, but its textile and commercial industries were far inferior to those of Weizhou, so it was not worth making it a focus of control.

Li Ji stayed in Liaocheng for five days before continuing north, passing through Boping and Gaotang counties, and arriving at the border between Bo and De prefectures. There, he suddenly decided to travel incognito to survey De prefecture, then westward to Bei prefecture, and finally return to Yuancheng from Bei prefecture.

As the saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated." I need to find out more about Qin Rui first.

Yuan Jing'an and the others repeatedly tried to persuade him, but Li Ji wouldn't listen. If Li Ji had only just left Yuancheng and already planned to travel incognito to another prefecture, Feng Yan, Du Huangshang, Gao Ying, and others would have certainly remonstrated with him, and Li Ji would have had to give them face. Now, with only eleven men under his command including Yuan Jing'an, who could stop the military governor from acting recklessly?

Li Ji said, “I will not enter the county or town, but will only travel in the countryside, observe the terrain, and visit the old folks and farmers. What danger could there be? If I hear that there are many bandits in Beizhou, I will turn back south on my own initiative without your advice; if there are only a few dozen bandits…” He patted the sword at his waist—“I am not afraid!”

However, he secretly thought, "I am a burly man with a bushy beard, a royal-bestowed sword at my waist—the double maces are too conspicuous, so I didn't bring them—riding a fine steed from Guanzhong, with a dozen or so guards by my side. Even without official attire, who wouldn't know I'm a man of some standing? What kind of incognito visit is this? Besides, it's fine within my own territory, but now that I'm in another prefecture, the more I act like neither an official nor a commoner, the more likely I am to cause trouble!"

Therefore, Yuan Jing'an and others were specially dressed as merchants.

The main specialties of Bozhou are three things: silk, plain silk, and donkeys, especially meat donkeys. So, twenty donkeys were taken from the Gaotang treasury, along with one hundred bolts of silk and sixty bolts of plain silk. A relatively clever soldier was ordered to impersonate a merchant, Yuan Jing'an and an ugly soldier were to act as bodyguards, and the rest of the soldiers were to accompany him.

As for Li Ji, he did not intend to blend into the caravan—mainly because, unlike Yuan Jing'an and others, as his status rose, his demeanor and mannerisms changed, and he could no longer find any trace of commoner air about him—so he trimmed his beard slightly to appear less aggressive, wore a turban with drooping corners, a blue robe, and soft-soled leather boots, and dressed up as a scholar…

Am I not a scholar? I refuse to believe it!

Naturally, his mount also needed to be changed. He bought a local horse in Gaotang County, which was a full foot shorter than his original Guanzhong steed. The thick, long dagger that originally belonged to the Li family, with its gold and jade inlaid scabbard, was also replaced with a simple longsword. However, just in case, he hid a standard-issue dagger in his saddlebag and two daggers in his boots; his leather belt had a large iron buckle, which he could easily remove and use to strike someone.

They all claimed to be scholars traveling for study, and that they were traveling together because they were old acquaintances of Yuan Jing'an, a bodyguard of the caravan.

From there, they traveled north to Pingyuan County, and then to Ande County—Ande was the capital of Dezhou.

The shape of Dezhou is roughly an inverted triangle, with Ande in the south-central part. To the south is a plain, to the east is Pingchang, and to the northwest are Jiangling, Changhe, Anling, and Su County. After Li Ji left Ande, he originally wanted to go north to the four counties including Jiangling, but he was persuaded not to by Yuan Jing'an and others.

Along the way, they had indeed encountered several groups of bandits, though generally only a dozen or twenty people—those smaller ones wouldn't dare to bother intercepting these "traveling merchants"—and none of them were particularly skilled or well-equipped. Li Ji didn't even need to lift a finger; Yuan Jing'an and his men could usually handle them all. But Li Ji was highly skilled and daring, while Yuan Jing'an and his soldiers were on tenterhooks—what if they encountered a powerful bandit group that caused the commander's mishap?

For Li Ji, he already has many scars on his body, so adding one or two more is insignificant; but for Yuan Jing'an and the others, even if the commander were to lose a hair, if someone were to investigate, we could all be in deep trouble! Therefore, Commander, please stop arguing, let's go back.

Li Ji smiled dismissively: "The bandits in this prefecture are not as numerous as those in Weibo, so what is there to fear?"

To be honest, the security situation in the countryside of Wei and Bo prefectures wasn't necessarily good. However, at that time, Li Ji was ostensibly traveling incognito, but in reality, he rode a tall horse with more than ten guards around him, and few dared to rob him on the road—which was also the reason why Li Ji disguised himself again. After all, the great chaos had just been quelled, and scattered soldiers and refugees were everywhere in the countryside. Neither Lei Wanchun of Wei prefecture nor Nan Jiyun of Bo prefecture had yet to take control of their armies and had not yet had time to launch a large-scale campaign of conquest.

In contrast, Qin Rui had been in charge of Bei and De for a long time. Even after surrendering to the Tang army and being allowed by Pugu Huaien to continue governing the two prefectures, it had been almost half a year, yet the countryside of Bei Prefecture remained in the same state. Upon seeing this, Li Ji couldn't help but feel secretly delighted—he now had an excuse to attack Qin Rui.

Of course, his own foundation was not yet solid, so he could not immediately launch an attack. Moreover, how the situation would develop in the future was still unknown. Furthermore, Li Ji hoped to first instigate infighting among the surrendered generals, and then reap the benefits himself.

Therefore, after repeated persuasion from Yuan Jing'an and others, Li Ji finally had no choice but to crack his whip – “Since that’s the case, let’s not continue north. But there’s no need to return immediately. Let’s head west to Beizhou and return south from Beizhou as originally planned.” He then smiled and said, “I also want to see what the ‘Northern Treasury of the World’ is all about.”

The Yongji Canal flows into Beizhou from near Guantao, running from southwest to northeast across the entire prefecture before emptying into the northwest of Dezhou. Therefore, Beizhou enjoyed very convenient water transportation. Before the An Lushan Rebellion, the Tang court routinely transported money and silk from Henan and the Jianghuai region to Beizhou via the Yongji Canal, where it was stored near Qinghe for supply to the northeastern frontier. Beizhou (then called Qinghe Prefecture) thus earned the reputation of being the "Northern Treasury of the World."

It is said that when An Lushan rebelled, he quickly seized all of Hebei. From the Qinghe Prefecture treasury, he confiscated more than 3 million bolts of cloth, more than 800,000 bolts of silk, more than 300,000 strings of cash, and more than 300,000 bushels of grain—enough to feed an army of 70,000 to 80,000 men for a whole year.

Of course, because Zhang Xun was stationed in Suiyang, the rebels were unable to advance into Jianghuai or fully take over Henan Province. It's estimated that after that, it would be impossible for large quantities of supplies to be transported to Qinghe. If the data were still from before the rebellion, Qin Rui could probably muster nearly 100,000 troops to crush the other Hebei warlords—and even then, he might not be willing to surrender.

Li Ji didn't enter Ande County. He simply circled around the south side of the city and headed west along the road. He hadn't gone far when he suddenly heard the sounds of fighting in the distance. Li Ji was a veteran of many battles and was very familiar with this kind of noise. He immediately spurred his horse and rushed over to investigate.

Yuan Jing'an didn't even bother with the donkey carrying the goods, and quickly took off to catch up, thinking to himself, "Second Brother, in this situation, shouldn't we be the ones running to find out what's going on while you wait behind? You rushed off in such a hurry; what will we do if something goes wrong..."

Following the sound, Li Ji saw dozens of people fighting fiercely around a carriage on the main road. Upon closer inspection, the smaller group appeared to be the carriage's guards, all wearing blue turbans, white short-sleeved shirts, and swift boots—they looked like government officials, and carried standard military swords. The larger group, on the other hand, wore a motley collection of clothing, carrying various weapons, mostly civilian weapons such as knives and guns.

But Li Ji had a sharp eye. He noticed that although the attackers looked like country bandits, their movements were quite methodical and their teamwork was excellent. He immediately realized that these were soldiers, or at least soldiers who had seen blood on the battlefield!

Could they be scattered former soldiers from Texas who have banded together to become thieves?

He spurred his horse closer, the clatter of hooves rapid enough to be easily noticed by the two sides locked in fierce combat. Several attackers immediately leaped out of the circle, glaring and shouting, "We're here to rob, it's none of your business! Get out of here!"

Li Ji smiled, leaned slightly forward from his horse, and asked, "Gentlemen, are you here to rob us of our money or our virtue?"

The other party was naturally dumbfounded: "So what if you rob me of my money? So what if you rob me of my virtue?"

"If it's about robbing money, I have a thousand taels of gold in my pocket, why wouldn't I rob you? If it's about robbing women, I wonder what kind of beautiful woman could catch the eye of you heroes? I'm a little curious, may I have the chance to see her?"

He was just teasing the other party when he caught a glimpse of the carriage curtain being slightly lifted, revealing half a face—it must have been an old woman—who screamed, "Help..." Seeing that there was only one person and one horse, she quickly changed her tune, saying, "Scholar, please ride quickly to Ande and ask the county to send troops to suppress the bandits. You will be richly rewarded!"

Li Ji casually asked, "What if the county refuses to send troops?"

In those days, local areas were generally chaotic, not just in the prefectures of Hebei. Even a typical county government was doing well if it could manage the county seat and market towns and prevent unrest; as for the countryside, wealthy families often had to hire their own guards. Although this place wasn't far from Ande County, it was still several miles away. Even if bandits appeared, the county might not be willing to intervene—or dare not. Besides, Li Ji wasn't a local; if he said there were thieves, wouldn't the county believe him?

The old woman hurriedly cried out, "Go tell the county officials, my family is..." Before she could finish speaking, a long spear thrust straight at her from the side. The old woman tilted her head, narrowly avoiding it, but the spearhead pierced through the curtain and penetrated more than half a foot into the carriage. Immediately, a chorus of terrified screams erupted inside the carriage. There were quite a few people, at least five or six, including women and children...

Although the armed thugs were quickly forced back, they were determined not to let Li Ji go. Several men charged forward with swords and spears, shouting, "Since that's the case, we'll take you with us!"

However, these people did not rush close to Li Ji's horse, but stopped abruptly—because Yuan Jing'an and six or seven people finally caught up.

Li Ji waved his hand, stopping Yuan Jing'an: "You all stay still, watch me kill the traitor!"

In previous encounters with thieves, Yuan Jing'an and his men had always been the ones to disperse them, rarely requiring Li Ji to lift a finger—and with only a dozen or so village bandits, he found it rather uninteresting. Now, however, the group attacking the carriage consisted of roughly thirty to forty seasoned veterans, and Li Ji couldn't resist the urge to fight. So, he ordered Yuan Jing'an and the others to wait, and with a "whoosh," he drew his longsword from his waist, ready to spur his horse forward and engage in battle.

Yuan Jing'an grabbed Li Ji's reins, and Li Ji glanced at him sideways: "Do you think I can't fight?" Yuan Jing'an hurriedly smiled obsequiously: "Young Master, what are you saying? I'm just afraid the weapon isn't right for you." He turned the long sword in his hand and handed it to Li Ji.

Actually, Li Ji's swordsmanship was quite good. Swords are weapons for those who prefer to live in seclusion and are commonly used by the common people. Li Bi was also used to carrying one, so the original Li Ji had practiced it before his soul was possessed. However, the problem is that swords can only be used for thrusting and slashing. They are light but lack strength. It would be difficult to fully utilize his skills while riding a horse.

Therefore, Yuan Jing'an handed him the broadsword, and Li Ji accepted it without hesitation. With a whoosh, he spurred his horse and charged forward. A bandit thrust his spear, but Li Ji deftly dodged the spear tip, gripped the shaft with his left hand, and swiftly brought down his broadsword with his right. The bandit was terrified and hastily dropped his spear and retreated.

His reaction was quick, but retreating was not as fast as charging forward, and a man's legs could not outrun a horse's hooves. When Li Ji missed with his first strike, he stretched out his arm and swung it in an arc, hitting him squarely on the neck. With a "plop," blood spurted out, and the man collapsed.

Upon seeing this, the remaining thieves were all terrified, and some instinctively cried out, "Who are you?!"

In those days, scholars often favored carrying swords, and sword dances and even actual sword skills became all the rage—take Li Mi, for example—a scholar known for his audacity, who would ride a horse and brandish his sword to kill thieves, which was not unusual. The problem was that he wielded a broadsword, could break free of the reins, and even disarm a spear; this was certainly no ordinary scholar!

Without wasting words with them, Li Ji wielded a spear in his left hand and a sword in his right, spurring his horse into the band of thieves and instantly killing three more.

Actually, he hadn't planned to act immediately. He wanted to observe the situation further, because he suspected this wasn't an ordinary robbery but involved a feud—the guards of the carriage were soldiers, and the attackers were also soldiers. Who could clearly see the truth? But when he heard the cries of women and children coming from the carriage, Li Ji became uneasy and spurred his horse forward to relieve the siege of the carriage.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Holding Family Members Hostage

Li Ji was certain that this was indeed a revenge killing—or rather, a robbery—rather than an ordinary roadside robbery.

Because he had killed seven people in a row, the soldiers guarding the carriage took the opportunity to launch a counterattack, leaving three more thieves dead on the spot. If they were ordinary bandits, they would have scattered long ago after a third of them had died; but the thieves refused to retreat and surged forward, trying to surround Li Ji.

Li Ji, however, was not about to be surrounded. He released the reins, grabbed his weapon, and spurred his horse forward. With a whistle, he leaped out of the crowd, galloping half an arrow's length to the side, then circled back. In truth, he regretted that if he had ridden a well-trained steed from Guanzhong, he wouldn't have had to travel so far to turn around…

Hebei horses are slightly inferior to Guanzhong horses, and even Hedong horses, especially since he wasn't riding a military horse this time.

After cutting down the eighth bandit, Li Ji felt that his ordinary broadsword—though a weapon, it was not of good quality, lest it reveal his whereabouts—might even chip. Only then did the remaining half of the bandits let out a howl and scatter in all directions. Li Ji was enjoying the killing spree and spurred his horse to give chase when he suddenly heard the old woman's voice again behind him: "Do not pursue a desperate enemy, lest there be an ambush. Please come back, sir!"

Li Ji thought to himself, how could there be an ambush... but he still slowly pulled on the reins and turned back to the carriage as instructed—the key was that he wanted to ask who was in the carriage and what kind of enemies they had offended.

The soldiers guarding the carriage all held their long swords upside down and thanked Li Ji. Then the carriage doors opened, and two elderly people stepped out, trembling—one was the old woman who had spoken earlier, and the other was an elderly man with white hair; both were dressed like commoners. The old man bowed and said, "We are deeply grateful to you, sir, for scattering the bandits and saving us. May we ask your honorable name?"

Li Ji sheathed his sword, dismounted, and casually replied, "I am Li Zhang, a wandering scholar from Luoyang."

He originally planned that if Qingluan gave birth to a son, he would name him Li Zhang. As for the son's name, what's wrong with the father borrowing it? As for calling himself "a wandering scholar from Luoyang", it was because his accent was more like the Mandarin of the Heluo region. If someone from Guanzhong were to hear it, they would immediately recognize the difference.

However, judging from the accents of the old woman and the old man, they should be from Hebei, but it was impossible to tell which prefecture they came from.

He then asked the old man, "Old man, where did you come from, where are you going, and why did you attract those thieves?"

The old man replied, "My surname is Du. I was traveling from Qinghe to Ande to visit relatives when thieves suddenly appeared and tried to rob me... I suppose they were carrying some valuables in their carriage and that's what attracted their attention."

Li Ji smiled slightly: "Old man, such perfunctory words are not interesting. If I am not mistaken, you should be an official, or there should be an official's family in the carriage, and those so-called 'thieves' are definitely not after money."

The carriage was guarded by soldiers or government officials—more than a dozen strong young men, armed with weapons. What ordinary thief would dare to rob it? Even if they managed to succeed, they would be in serious trouble if the authorities investigated afterwards. Besides, didn't that old lady try to call out her name and identity? I believe that if I report this to Ande County, I can get reinforcements. Tell the truth, sir.

The old man smiled and said, "Likewise, likewise. I didn't know that wandering scholars these days also have skills in battle."