Chapter 22: Sleeping on Ice (IV)

When a person is pushed into a corner with no other choices, though helpless, they are also happy. At least then, there’s no need to worry about making decisions—just follow one path, and even if it leads to death, there will be no regrets.

Li Kuo wrote a family letter as a junior relative and sent it urgently through a trusted messenger to Gao Shi, the governor of Jianghuai who was stationed in Yangzhou, hoping that, given their long-standing family ties, Gao would take care of his mother and concubines. Tangzhou wasn’t far from Jiangdu, and half a month later, Li Kuo received a reply from Gao Shi. In the letter, Gao first praised Li Kuo’s bravery in fighting the enemy, then assured him that his family was safe and he needn’t worry. As for the imperial edicts, Gao said he hadn’t received them for some reason and thus was unaware that Li Heng had ordered his pursuit.

This eased Li Kuo’s concerns slightly—so long as Gao hadn’t received the imperial edicts, there was still hope. Determined to save his family from peril, Li Kuo wrote another letter to Gao, expressing his longing for them. He also cautiously asked if it might be possible for Gao to bring his family to Tangzhou. Half a month later, he received another reply. To his surprise, Gao readily agreed—but said that since it was a time to unite against the enemy and Jianghuai was fully supporting the front lines, they lacked manpower and could only bring Li Kuo’s family to Tangzhou later.

Overjoyed by this reply, Li Kuo thanked Gao in his response and finally emerged from the shadow of worry. At first, he thought the rebels’ capture of many areas had disrupted the imperial communications, explaining why Gao hadn’t received the edicts. But upon reflection, this seemed unlikely. After all, Jianghuai was under the control of the Tang court—if some provinces in Henan couldn’t receive the edicts, it made sense, but how could Yangzhou in Jianghuai not?

There was only one explanation: Gao had received the edicts but pretended not to! In this way, he could bring his family to Tangzhou. If the court later investigated, he could blame the lack of communication for it. Such a clever double-move could only come from someone as resourceful as Gao!

Once relieved, Li Kuo focused entirely on the safety of the area around Tangzhou. Although Sun Xiaozhe had kept his distance from Tangzhou, Li Kuo found him annoying, so he led 10,000 cavalry out of the city to engage Sun Xiaozhe in an open battle.

Although the rebels were numerous and strong, they gained no advantage at all. Sun Xiaozhe clearly did not expect Li Kuo to lead his troops in a preemptive attack, becoming utterly panicked and his forces were routed by Li Kuo. Under Li Kuo’s leadership, generals such as Dou Qing, Xian Yu Cheng, Wang Xiaochun, and Zhou Wucui fought bravely. The troops, united as one, defeated the enemy, killing over 3,000 of them and capturing more than 5,000. Luoyang was shaken, and An Qingxu was furious; he ordered Li Kuo to return to Luoyang immediately with his defeated forces to account for his actions. No matter how angry An Qingxu was, Li Kuo’s battle inevitably stirred the fighting spirit of the Tang people. The people in the conquered provinces of Henan rose up, denouncing the rebels… It was nearly May, the time when wheat ripened. Outside Suiyang City, golden wheat fields stretched as far as the eye could see. A gentle breeze stirred the waves of wheat, creating a truly pleasing sight. Yet the defenders inside Suiyang City had no leisure to enjoy such beauty. Three months had passed since 100,000 rebels besieged the city. Although they continued to hold out, with no reinforcements from the imperial army, they were often awakened at night by the sounds of the rebels’ assault horns. Even the strongest could withstand such torment for only so long. Many soldiers grew fearful, and some even fled the city secretly in the darkness. When Zhang Xun learned of this, he ordered his trusted men like Lei Wanchun and Nan Jiyun to lead fifty brave soldiers to hide behind the city walls at night, ready to capture those who tried to escape. As expected, Nan Jiyun and Lei Wanchun captured over a dozen soldiers attempting to flee that night. After interrogation, Zhang Xun determined they were spies and ordered his executioners to behead them all, hanging their heads on the walls of Suiyang City as a warning to others. Zhang Xun then wept bitterly on the city walls, declaring his willingness to share the fate of Suiyang City. From then on, no one dared to escape at night. Though they knew the chances of holding out were slim, everyone stood by Zhang Xun’s side, vowing to follow him through thick and thin. Yin Ziqi’s several attempts to attack the city at night were all bravely repelled by Zhang Xun and his troops. Despite having over 100,000 soldiers, the rebels could do nothing to Suiyang City. “Lord Zhang, the rebels are now harvesting wheat outside the city to use as military provisions. We can’t just stand by and watch them act recklessly right under our noses!” Xu Yuan said to Zhang Xun, bowing and advising, “The rebels are short of food supplies and must focus on harvesting wheat. If we attack now, they’ll be caught off guard and flee in panic!”

Zhang Xun pondered for a moment before saying, “Brother Xu is right. However, launching an attack now won’t yield the best results. How about this…” Zhang Xun stepped closer to Xu Yuan and whispered something in his ear. After hearing it, Xu Yuan clapped his hands in admiration and said, “Lord Zhang, this is truly a brilliant plan! It will surely deal a heavy blow to the rebels’ morale!” …

Ten miles outside Suiyang City, the rebel commander Yin Ziqi paced back and forth with a worried expression, hands behind his back. He had been ordered by the Emperor of Great Yan to lead 100,000 elite troops in besieging Suiyang City for three months, yet they still hadn’t even captured the barbican. If they failed to take Suiyang City before autumn, it would surely affect the emperor’s overall strategic plans, and the emperor would be furious—his own life would be in danger. (Note 1) Worst of all, there were problems with the army’s food supplies. It was all because of that wretch Li Kuo. If not for him setting fire to the grain stores at Luokou, the army’s food supply wouldn’t be so strained!

Damn it! As a high-ranking commander, he was forced to do menial work like supervising wheat harvesting—what a disgrace!

Yin Ziqi took out a piece of white silk from his sleeve and wiped the sweat from his temples, then glanced toward the walls of Suiyang City in the distance. Hmph, that kid Zhang Xun was just holding his ground thanks to his advantageous location. How dare he even think about coming out? His anxiety was probably causing him to overreact.

“Pass my order—tell everyone to speed up the harvesting!” Yin Ziqi ordered coldly, glancing at the soldiers working hard in the wheat fields.

“Understood!” One of his guards saluted him and promptly went to carry out the order.

Seeing everything arranged, Yin Ziqi felt slightly relieved. At that moment, the midday sun seemed especially glaring, and drowsiness overcame him. He shook his robe sleeves, yawned, and headed to the nearby shade to take a short rest. …

“Woo-woo—woo-woo—woo-woo-woo!”
“Woo-woo—woo—woo-woo-woo!”

The sharp, deep sounds of horns penetrated his dreams, startling Yin Ziqi awake.

“What’s happening? What’s going on?”

Yin Ziqi instinctively got up, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and looked toward Suiyang City.

“Reporting to the commander! For some reason, the Tang army has suddenly started blowing horns and beating drums on the city walls!” One of his guards rushed over after hearing Yin Ziqi’s shouts and reported loudly.

“What are they up to? If they have the guts, let them come out and fight! Instead of hiding in the city like cowards, they now try this trick on me!” Yin Ziqi snorted and ordered, “Ignore it. Pass my order—tell the soldiers to continue harvesting the wheat!”

At this order, the rebel soldiers burst into laughter at the Tang people’s foolish behavior. Before long, they began to ignore the trumpeting sounds from the city walls. “Boom, boom, boom!” “Boom, boom, boom!” “Boom, boom, boom!” After a while, the trumpeting gradually ceased, but the sound of drums could be heard again from the walls of Suiyang. Yin Ziqi snorted and said, “What, after blowing the trumpets they start beating drums again? Can’t they come up with something new? Tell everyone to start cooking and ignore the Tang people’s provocations!” Yin Ziqi cast a disdainful glance at the city walls and gave his orders in a stern voice. Note 1: Wengcheng: A wengcheng is a semicircular or square defensive structure built outside city gates (or occasionally inside them) to strengthen the defense of castles or passes. It is part of the ancient Chinese city walls, connected to the main walls on both sides and equipped with defensive features such as arrow towers, gates, and battlements. The gate of a wengcheng is usually not in line with the gate it protects, to prevent attacks from siege weapons like battering rams.