Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 184: Attack on Salt Well
"pull!"

"Boom bang bang-"

One yellow leaf does not mean autumn, but all the mountains turn yellow, which means autumn.

At the foot of Qishan Mountain, the sun was rising high in the sky, and stones were thrown one after another, startling the birds flying all over the mountain.

On the top of Yanjing City, dust was rising, rocks were falling and shaking the city walls, and the people in the city were wailing.

As the sun rose to high noon, the scene outside the city appeared before the foreign troops.

Fifty catapults were lined up in a row, with the stones piled up at the back as high as a hill. Dozens or even hundreds of civilians operated them skillfully under the command of the soldiers.

Not long after, another round of stones rose into the air and smashed down heavily.

The Yanjing city wall, which was compacted with sand, gravel, clay and glutinous rice, looked so thin in front of the counterweight catapult.

After a night of "bombing", the parapet on the top of the city was mostly destroyed, and the catapults that were hastily made in the city were also mostly damaged.

The distance was too far, so they couldn't throw lethal slingshots and could only throw slingshots weighing seven or eight kilograms.

These stones were indeed dangerous enough for the civilians, so they placed shields next to the ropes that pulled the mechanisms, and they also wore the soldiers' helmets.

It would take about three to five rounds for the dozen or so catapults left in the city to hit the civilians of the Longxi army.

Although many people were injured as a result, their injuries were more torturous.

"Boom bang bang-"

The sound of stones thrown by the Longxi army rang out again, and dust rose from the top of Yanjing City again.

On horseback, Liu Jilong squinted his eyes and looked at the sight. After a while, he said, "The wall built with grain is indeed strong, but I don't know how much it will cost."

"Such a wall would cost at least several thousand stones." Geng Ming responded to Liu Jilong, and when Liu Jilong looked at him, he explained:

"When Lao Chen was the governor of Weizhou and was burning bricks to build the city wall, I specifically went to ask him about it."

"The scale of Yanjing City is comparable to that of Longxi City. Although it is not made of rammed earth and bricks, the sandstone city walls compacted with glutinous rice mortar consume more grain than rammed earth and bricks."

"I've seen Lao Chen's account book. If we want to build Longxi City, we need to make at least 560,000 bricks and 430,000 kilograms of coal."

"The two states of He and Lin transport 20,000 jin of charcoal to Longxi every month. It will take two years to build it."

"Governor, I see that there is no record of coal in Chengzhou in the Yuanhe County Atlas. Then the coal I used to build the city..."

Although Geng Ming was simple and honest, he would ask questions whenever he had them, so he asked Liu Jilong with a smile, but Liu Jilong said, "There are some in Wuzhou."

"Yes!" Geng Ming nodded in agreement. It wasn't that coal was a must, but trees were difficult to grow and could serve as an obstacle to the enemy, so he didn't want to cut them down.

What's more, after Liu Jilong's improvements, the Longxi army's technology of using coal to smelt iron, burn bricks and pottery had become very mature, so there was no need to worry about poisoning, and they naturally chose coal that was easier to utilize.

Thinking of this, Geng Ming looked towards the top of Yanjing City, but seeing that most of the parapet had been destroyed, he quickly raised his hand.

Soon, cavalry carrying command flags arrived, and Geng Ming calmly gave the order: "Move the catapults forward, set up camp and throw stones when you are fifty steps away from the city wall!"

"I obey your command!" The light cavalry responded and turned their horses around to pass the order to the catapult position.

Under their gaze, the catapult position moved forward, and apart from the occasional eight or nine stones thrown from the city, there was no other response.

After the trebuchet position advanced to fifty steps away from the city wall, the trebuchets in the city completely lost the opportunity to attack.

Huge stones weighing 100 kilograms or more were transported to the trebuchet position by horse-drawn carriages, and fifty trebuchets began to attack one point on the city wall in order to break through the entire wall.

"Boom bang bang-"

"Pig-dog guys, do they want to trap me to death here?!"

The vibration from the soles of his feet reminded Li Wei, and he was already panicking.

Even though he built the salt well to be extremely solid, the catapults of the Longxi army were telling him with reality... as long as it is a city, there will always be a time when it will be breached!
For a moment, Li Wei's expression changed, and he stood up and paced back and forth in the main hall of the yamen.

Liu Jilian stationed troops outside the four city gates. The only way to break through was the north gate because elite cavalry were stationed there.

But if he wanted to break away from the elite cavalry, it meant that he had to break out on horseback with the elite cavalry and infantry. What about the families of the elite cavalry and infantry?
Thinking of this, Li Wei kicked over the tables and chairs in anger.

At the same time, a centurion walked quickly into the courtyard and saluted Li Xi in the main hall from a distance of more than ten steps: "Qi Liben, there is a merchant outside the government office who wants to see you, saying that he can save us and leave."

"Merchant?" Li Xi calmed down and waved his hand, "Ask him in!"

"Yes!" The captain hurried out, and soon came back with a businessman in simple clothes.

Li Wei had already sat back in the main seat, and the table and chair that he had kicked over were straightened up by the armored soldiers next to him.

"Wang Kui, the merchant from Qinzhou, pays respect to Qi Liben."

The merchant spoke fluent Tibetan, but Li Xi didn't care. He just raised his chin and asked, "You said you can save me from the salt well?"

"That's right." Wang Kui nodded, and then took out a wooden sign from his arms:
"I am a merchant under the command of Governor Gao of Qin and Longzhou. Governor Gao has allowed me to act at my own discretion, but before that, I need to ask you something."

The captain took the wooden sign from him and passed it to Li Xi.

After reading it, Li Wei asked, "What do you want to know?"

"May I ask, Qiliben, are the troops outside the city under the banner of Longxi?"

Wang Kui asked, and Li Wei nodded in agreement. Hearing this, Wang Kui frowned and continued to ask, "How many days can Yanjing City hold out now?"

"What do you mean?" Li Wei's expression was not very good because he felt that Wang Kui was looking down on him.

Wang Kui bowed and said, "The trebuchets in the Longxi army are very powerful. I can only ask for help from my envoy if I know how many days the salt well can hold out."

"Ask for help?" Li Wei thought for a while before reacting.

It turned out that he was involved in the struggle between two vassal states of the Tang Dynasty. It seemed that the governor Gao of Qinzhou wanted to win him over.

Knowing that he had value, Li Wei was no longer panicked, but put on airs and said:
"The government troops outside the city have offered a lot of conditions in order to make me surrender. I want to know what Governor Gao can give me?"

Li Wei calmed down, which made Wang Kui feel troubled, but the salt wells were the essence of Chengzhou and must not be given to Liu Jilong.

Thinking of this, Wang Kui continued to bow and said, "Qili Benlu Ruyue of Weizhou has surrendered to my envoy."

"Before he surrendered to my envoy, he had only a thousand elite cavalry and three thousand foreign soldiers under his command."

"It's only been a year now, and he has already become our dynasty's envoy, with 4,000 elite cavalry under his command."

"Qiliben, you are more powerful than him. My envoy will certainly thank you with a high position and generous salary."

Wang Kui wanted to appease Li Wei first to prevent him from defecting to Liu Jilong.

But Li Wei didn't believe his promises at all. He just wanted to see the real benefits that he could get.

"I just want to know what I can get!"

Li Wei's arrogant attitude made Wang Kui grit his teeth.

He was not sure whether Liu Jilong had really promised Li Wei a high position and generous salary, so he could only bow and say:

"I will send out a carrier pigeon now to ask my envoy."

"Okay!" Li Wei knew that many merchants in the city were spies from Qin, Feng and Xingzhou, but he didn't care.

As long as business can be done, it doesn't matter even if all the merchants are spying.

"I will take my leave..."

Wang Kui left the main hall and disappeared into the yamen soon.

Seeing him leave, Li Wei immediately looked at the captain and said, "Now find someone to write a letter and shoot it outside the city with an arrow, telling the government troops outside the city that Gao, the governor of Qinzhou, wants to win me over."

"If they don't want me to join Governor Gao, then we'll see if their sincerity is higher than Governor Gao's."

Li Wei was able to expand his salt well business thanks to his clever mind.

Now I have become a commodity that people are fighting over, and I can't keep it, so I might as well see who bids higher.

Under his instructions, the captain quickly followed his instructions, found a merchant to write a letter, and shot it out of the city with a bow and arrow.

The letter was quickly delivered to Liu Jilong, and more than ten carrier pigeons were released in Yanjing City at once.

"This Gao Pian actually has a guest in the city?"

"Not surprisingly, they have the support of the imperial court, and they have abundant manpower and money, so it is not difficult for them to train spies."

Inside the tent, Geng Ming spoke in a deep voice with a somewhat unfriendly tone, and Liu Jilong frowned slightly, but it was not that he was unwilling to surrender.

But before that, he had to send light cavalry to Dou Jingchong in Luomen Road.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong looked at Geng Ming, and Geng Ming also bowed and said:

"Governor, since Gao Pian knows that we are attacking Chengzhou, he will probably take the nearest Luomen Road. He may have already spotted Dou Jingchong and his men."

"Should we send light cavalry to Luomen Road to see what's going on with Dou Jingchong?"

Geng Ming had a lot of ideas. Seeing that he had thought of them, Liu Jilong nodded and said, "Okay, send Hu Siguang to lead 200 elite cavalry to build fortifications in Mumen Valley!"

"Yes!" Geng Ming bowed in response and then walked out of the tent.

But not long after he walked out, he heard the sound of horse hooves coming from afar and gradually approaching.

Not long after, Geng Ming hurried back and bowed to Liu Jilong, saying, "Governor, Shang Duoluo and his men persuaded Shanglu to surrender, recruited 500 soldiers, and captured more than 4,000 captives."

"Okay, order Shang Duoluo to leave our elite cavalry and armored soldiers behind and bring a thousand soldiers to Yanjing. After we capture Yanjing, we will turn our troops south to Wuzhou."

Liu Jilong gave instructions and looked at the letter that Li Wei had sent over. He thought about it and thought that if he could persuade Li Wei to surrender and reduce casualties, that would be better.

"Write a letter for me to tell Li Xi that if he is willing to surrender, I will recommend him to the rank of Shangqi Duwei, with an annual salary of 200 dan and 800 mu of permanent farmland."

"I don't need to take his wealth, but the government warehouse and treasury must belong to me."

"I obey your command!" Geng Ming agreed and then sat down to write a letter.

A quarter of an hour later, Li Xi received Liu Jilian's letter, but he was not satisfied with the treatment described in the letter.

"Qiliben, are we going to surrender?"

The captain asked cautiously, but Li Xi cursed: "With such a small thing, is he treating me like a slave?"

After the curse fell, he asked again: "Did you get any news from Wang Kui?"

"No, it takes at least two hours for the carrier pigeon to go to Shanggui and return." The captain shook his head.

Upon hearing this, Li Wei continued to wait for news, while Gao Pian, who was obstructed by Dou Jingchong last night, led 4,000 elite cavalry back to Wushan County along the original route, and then detoured to Fuqiang and headed to Shanggui.

When the carrier pigeon arrived in Shanggui, Shanggui immediately released the carrier pigeon to Fuqiang and sent light cavalry to Fuqiang.

As expected, Gao Pian passed Fuqiang at noon and rushed to Shanggui without stopping.

After the light cavalry galloped for two hours, they ran into the elite cavalry led by Gao Pian on the official road.

The main army stopped to rest, and the light cavalry reported the situation at the salt wells and asked Gao Pian for instructions on what to do.

"Damn it, if we had known that the bandits in Yanjing would be so easy to capture, we should have taken action earlier. Now the killer surnamed Liu got there first."

"Governor, this bandit from Yanjing is probably a worthless fellow. If you don't promise him something, he might surrender to Liu Jilong."

"Tell me on the way!"

Zhang Lin and Liang Zun were talking at once, but Gao Pian didn't want to stop to think. He decided to rush to Shanggui while thinking about what to do.

Soon, four thousand elite cavalrymen rushed towards Shanggui again.

Although they were both elite cavalry, the two horses of Gao Pian's elite cavalry were respectively a draft horse with camel armor and a combat horse.

In comparison, the elite cavalry under Liu Jilian's command consisted of two war horses per rider, and their quality and speed were more suitable for medium and long-distance combat.

It was dusk when Gao Pian finally led his troops to Shanggui City. After ordering Zhang Lin, Lu Ruyue and others to set up camp outside, he took Liang Zan to the yamen to rest and ordered people to release carrier pigeons.

More than a dozen carrier pigeons were released with the message, but only six arrived at Yanjing before dark.

Wang Kui hurriedly opened the bamboo tube on the pigeon's leg, poured out the letter and examined it carefully.

In the letter, Gao Pian allowed him to act as he saw fit and promised Li Wei the title of Chengzhou Youyishi.

"Chengzhou Youyi envoy?" Wang Kui frowned. He remembered that this position had been given to Lu Ruyue.

It seems that our envoy wants to calm this guy down first, and then find a way to appease Li Wei when his troops arrive here.

Thinking of this, Wang Kui quickly burned all the letter papers, then got up and walked towards the yamen.

By this time, it was already dark, and the western wall of Yanjing, which had been attacked fiercely, had collapsed in many places. Fortunately, it was still strong enough and no gaps had been left.

However, considering the intensity of the Longxi Army's attack, Yanjing City can only hold out for three more days at most.

Soon, Wang Kui walked into the Yanjing County Office with a smile on his face, bowed to Li Wei who was eating, and congratulated him:

"Congratulations, Qi Liben. My governor is willing to ask you to be the envoy of Chengzhou. You will still be in charge of the salt well. We just need to report to the governor."

"But before that, please hold on for enough time and wait for my reinforcements to arrive at Yanjing!"

Li Xi, who was eating, smiled when he heard this. He shook his head and said, "It's a pity that Liu Jilong outside the city promised me the governorship of Chengzhou and gave me the jurisdiction of the entire Chengzhou!"

"Impossible!" Wang Kui's face changed, but Li Wei snorted coldly: "This is the fact!"

While Wang Kui was communicating with Shanggui, Li Xi had already sent people to ask all the merchants in the city about the Longxi Army and Liu Jilian. Naturally, he also knew that Liu Jilian was also a threat to the current Tang Dynasty court.

In this case, the Tang Dynasty will definitely offer a higher price to recruit me.

The identity of a Chengzhou Youyi envoy certainly made him excited, but his territory was still a small salt well. How could he be satisfied?

Anyway, Wang Kui didn't know what price Liu Jilong offered him, so it was reasonable for him to ask for a sky-high price.

Thinking of this, Li Wei was very proud, and Wang Kui became angry when he saw his proud look.

But when he thought about the gains and losses of the salt well, he immediately suppressed his anger, bowed to Li Xi and said: "If so, my governor is willing to let you govern the state, and give you 500 sets of Ming armor and helmets!"

The temptation of five hundred sets of armor was placed before him, and Li Xi's eyes lit up.

"Hahahaha...Although I, Li Xi, am a Tibetan, I have always admired the Tang Dynasty. Now I have the opportunity to become an official of the Tang Dynasty. This is really a happy event!"

Li Xi took his hands off the lamb leg, grabbed the wine bowl with his greasy hands and toasted Wang Kui.

Upon seeing this, the captain stepped forward and poured a bowl of wine for Wang Kui, who quickly drank it up with a smile.

"Old dog, wait until my envoy drives Liu Jilong away, and then I will kill you first!"

"Boom bang bang-"

While Wang Kui was thinking about how to take Li Xi's life, the Longxi army outside the city was attacking the city wall day and night.

Stones weighing over a hundred kilograms were thrown at the top of the city wall from night until noon the next day.

The walls of Yanjing became more dilapidated, but there was still no gap that could be breached by force.

"Has Hu Siguang led his elite cavalry to Mumen Valley?"

"We arrived at noon, and should be building the fort now."

On horseback, Liu Jilong asked Geng Ming, and Geng Ming responded appropriately.

Hearing this, Liu Jilong felt relieved and continued to watch the catapults attack the city wall.

At the same time, Hu Siguang, who was in Mumen Valley, was leading 200 elite cavalry to cut down trees and lay them down on the narrow valley road.

Mumen Valley is located between the ravines of Qi Mountain. The valley is only more than ten feet wide, and there are mountains on both sides, making it difficult to cross.

As Hu Siguang cut down the trees and pulled them down onto the valley road, the valley road was completely cut off.

Dozens of trees that were 20 to 30 feet tall were cut down and each tree weighed several thousand pounds, so it was not easy to clear them up.

The trees were intentionally pulled down in a crosswise manner by Hukesguang, forming a "tree wall" five or six feet high.

"Hurry up, don't give Gao Pian a chance to get over here!"

"Bam—"

Hukusi Guang shouted, and the elite cavalrymen on both sides who had dismounted to cut down trees also chopped down these hundreds of years old giant trees with all their might.

Time passed little by little, and soon the dull sound of horse hooves was heard in Mugu Road, and Hu Siguang hurriedly blew the wooden whistle.

"Beep--"

Hearing the sound of the wooden whistle, all the elite cavalry ran down the steep slope and came behind the roadblock they had built.

Hu Siguang looked at the captain beside him and said, "Count their flags later to see how many people there are, and send someone to report back to the governor."

"Yes!"

While the two were talking, elite armored cavalry began to appear in front of them, a large number of them.

When they saw the valley ahead blocked by trees, everyone's face changed.

"You bastard, how dare you block the official road?!"

Zhang Lin rode out on his horse, holding up his whip and cursing at Hukui Guang who had just mounted his horse.

Upon hearing this, Hu Siguang said sarcastically, "Which eye of yours saw that Aye blocked the official road?"

He glanced at the captain, but saw that the captain was counting the flags in a low voice. He then retracted his gaze and raised his voice:
"My governor recaptured Chengzhou and learned that the Chengzhou bandits deliberately cut down trees to block the valley in order to prevent the court from sending troops from Qinzhou to attack, so he sent us to clear them out."

"It's just that some people look like humans but have dog brains. They can't tell right from wrong and start bossing us around!"

"You!!" Zhang Lin was about to explode, but he saw Gao Pian riding his horse up to him, glancing at the blocked official road with a normal expression.

"Since this gentleman said he is here to clean up the official roads, why don't we clean them up together?"

Gao Pian raised his hand, and Zhang Lin behind him quickly led hundreds of people to dismount and prepare to clear the trees.

At the same time, Hu Siguang looked at the captain beside him, only to see that he had retreated to the rear at some point and was whispering orders to several elite cavalrymen.

Soon, these elite riders turned their horses around and retreated to the salt well, and Hu Siguang also smiled and said:
"Okay, you guys cleaned it up, and it saved us some effort."

"I heard that there are bandits blocking the official road in the rear again. Let's go and clear them out now!"

As soon as Hu Siguang finished speaking, he turned his horse around and retreated.

"I'm going to kill him, sir!"

Zhang Lin put his hand on the hilt of the knife. Gao Pian frowned and looked at him: "You should change your reckless temper, otherwise you will suffer one day!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Lin suppressed his temper, took his hand off the hilt of the sword, dismounted from his horse, and moved the trees away with the elite cavalry.

As for Hukesi Guang, he had already led his elite cavalry to a narrower area to cut down trees and continue to block the official road.

(End of this chapter)